Dr Doom: Shield Hero
by burgerkingpolicedepartment
Summary: Victor Von Doom still has yet to defeat his rival, Reed Richards. Not willing to accept defeat, he decides to look towards his own collection of books in his study for inspiration. When he finds a book he didn't recognize, he was summoned to another world against his will with three others to fight against the Waves of Calamity!
1. Chapter 1

The noise of laughter, cheer and festivities echoed through the castle. The waves of sound would hit and reflect off the cold stone, leaving no open room vacant of disruption.

Undoubtedly, there would be games being played, feasts eaten, and lively conversations on this day. All of these things are done for the ruler of the country, Latveria, a lone dictator in his castle. It was a requirement that day, for the celebration of his birth was the reason for such festivities. The people had no pause with this national holiday, for this dictator was not an abuser of his people.

All people went with food and shelter, they were protected, and they were happy to serve under him! However, for this birthday, the dictator decided it was not the day to enjoy himself.

He stood in the dimly lit library, gazing upon his collection of literature. His green cape was still and hanging from his shoulders as his arms crossed, encased in metal. His eyes were the only thing that moved, skimming over everything for inspiration.

After a few minutes of skimming, the ruler clenched his metal hand, then grunted before turning his green hooded, metal encased head to the right.

A servant of his bowed his head, "Sire, are you _sure _you don't want to celebrate with your subordinates? They are eagerly awaiting your presence."

There was a pause before he answered, voice deep and bold with a slight echo from the metal helmet, "I have celebrated many times, the day of my birth." He turned back to the books, "Sadly, today is not cause for celebration on my part. I have yet to prove myself superior to that pest Richards. Just days ago, he subdued my attempt to do just that!"

"May I inquire, then, as to why you've decided to come to the study rather than the War Room?"

The answer was as simple as, "Inspiration." The ruler waved his hand and the servant gave his leave of the study through the double dark oak doors.

"However, there is something peculiar about this particular plus." A metal hand clasped a book with a red spine with golden accents. He pulled to book from the shelf with a frown, "When had this book been acquired by my hands? I wonder."

He opened the book, and began to read. It gave a directory, which the first four simply read as;

2….. Sword Cardinal Hero

3….. Spear Cardinal Hero

4….. Bow Cardinal Hero

5….. Shield Cardinal Hero

Following that was a familiar phrase;

6….. Yggdrasil

_Norse mythology? Perhaps I could use Thor against Richards somehow. _The idea was thrown around in his head before he began to skim through the pages.

The hero pages seemed to just simply be descriptions, which was odd enough as it was. The metal clad man never heard of a mythological story begins with descriptions of the characters. _A play's script, perhaps?_

Even more peculiar was that the fourth hero, the Shield Hero, had a blank page other than the words, _Shield Hero, _along the top.

"How has this even managed to make it through the entrance?"

Once the man finished his sentence he went to close the book with a sigh. Simultaneously, the floor around him began to glow in a blinding circle!

_Mystical arts outside of my own creation made it into my domain!? _

The armored man threw the book aside, then stretched both hands out to the side. From his hands, his own magic began to imbue from his fingertips. His green aura combined with the light from the incantation began uncovered the details of the study that were once obscured by darkness.

The king closed his eyes and began to absorb what information he could feel from the incantation. He searched for any resemblance of this magic to his own magical spells and feats. It wasn't long at all before he deciphered it to being-.

"A summon?" He began to immediately conjure his own spell. A simple one, but in order to counter this summon, he would have to break out of the circle, something impossible to be avoided by simply stepping out of it.

The metal hands began gesturing, causing different spells to be brought forward as obstacles to the summoning. This summon circle was a powerful one, which isn't to say it was unbreakable for the ruler. In fact, breaking out of it would be simple in of itself. However, this summon circle was already almost complete!

"You will _not _win this battle!"

Deep down, however, the man knew he would be summoned to wherever he was forced to. There simply wasn't enough time to properly break the spell. Within seconds, the green and chrome leader of Latveria would be overtaken by this force.

The man opened his eyes and the blue light died as quickly as it spawned into existence. Through the wall of light, he could see three others around him within a similar, larger summoning circle.

One boy was wearing a red dress jacket over a white shirt. Over the shirt was a necklace. Below the belt was a pair of brown slacks. His hair was golden and long, tied in a messy tail behind his head with a few locks on either side hanging loosely and just as messy on his head. His eyes were bright red, looking over his situation with little anxiety.

Another boy was wearing a darker set of clothes, which complimented his black hair and blue eyes. His outfit consisted of a dark blue jacket zipped up halfway on top of a black turtleneck. Below that was a simple pair of black jeans.

The third boy had wavy hair the color of sand with eyes to match that shade of brown. He wore a green suit with a red tie over a white dress shirt. Upon either side of his chest was a breast pocket with a white lip. There were two columns of buttons, made of a kind of bronze colored, shiny plastic.

The most peculiar thing the ruler of Latveria noticed about the three boys was what was being held in their hands. The boy in red had a spear in his right hand. The boy in blue had a sword in the same hand. The boy in green held a bow in his left hand.

_They have the same weapons… _the metal clad man looked down at his right arm, noticing a shield connected to his forearm. _As do I, have the same weapons as the book mentioned._

Outside of the finally dispersed circle was men in robes, all of which surrounded the circle. In front of the four a single man put his hood down, showing an older mage with greyed hair along the sides of his head. He smiled, and looked to the four that were summoned.

The ruler was the first to speak up, "What is the meaning of your forcing me to this place?"

His voice boomed, causing the mage to step back. The boys also jumped at the sudden eruption.

The mage raised his hands, "Ah, so you're the one that made the summon more difficult for us all."

"Dodge the question once more," the ruler warned, "and I will stake your head upon the border of my nation!"

"T-the king is the one that asked for the summon! He wanted to be the one to explain the summoning to you."

The boy in red spoke up, "Hey, pal!" The Latverian turned to meet his gaze, "What are you doing? We were summoned as heroes, we're obviously supposed to save this world from-."

"This world's problems are not mine to resolve!" The metal clad man marched forward, narrowing his gaze through the metal helmet, "I know not, nor do I care for this world."

The boy in red swallowed his now dry mouth before the boy in green spoke up, "I doubt they would summon us to this world without some form of payment." He turned to the speaking mage, "You are planning on paying the four of us, correct?"

The mage nodded, "Indeed, we are willing to pay a heavy price for all of your help! But first, we must speak to the king immediately. He's been expecting all of you."

The irritated man crossed his arms, giving in to the offer of speaking to the ruler of this nation.

The mage beckoned the four to follow, and the Latverian ruler took the lead. Along the way to the king, a glimpse of the city could be seen. It had a similar look to Latveria from what he could see, except obviously less technologically advanced.

When they finally got to the throne room, the four summoned stood side by side on the red carpet that began at the entrance of the large wooden doors that measured closer to the entrance of the Latverian castle.

The carpet led to the throne, which sat an older man with a golden crown with a large purple gem in the middle of the design upon his light grey hair. His entire outfit matched the cliché of a king, with the exception of the red colors being replaced by the same purple shade as the gem upon his head.

The king smiled, raising a hand to the four, "The Cardinal Heroes, here at last! I have been awaiting your arrival in our time of need. I am King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, the king of Melromarc. Please, introduce yourselves as I beckon to each of you." He beckoned to the boy in the green suit.

The boy stepped forward, "My name is Itsuki Kawasumi, and I'm seventeen years old. I was a high school student in Japan before I was summoned here." He stepped back.

The darker haired boy was pointed to by the king, to which he stepped forward, "I am Ren Amaki, sixteen years old. I was also a student in high school before this." He stepped back.

The ruler of Latveria was about to make his demands before the king pointed to the boy in red. He stepped forward, "My name is-."

"You dare…" the boy stopped, looking over at the armored ruler, whose head was lowered and hand clenched in anger. "You dare to steal me from my world, steal me from my own accomplishments and aspirations of my world. Then, you _insult _me by ignoring my presence!" The man looked up, then took a powerful step forward which echoed throughout the room, "You know not who you oppose, you fool!"

The king glared at the man, clenching his throne, "You dare call the king a fool? You're lucky I don't call the guards to strike you where you stand!" Knights began to surround the lone man, weapons on guard.

"Your feeble army wouldn't measure to an ounce of my power!" The man clenched his hand as he raised it, a light ebbing from it. He motioned down, the light launching toward the ground and dispersing away from the point of contact. The guards were pushed away from the man in green and metal, slamming against the walls which cracked and crumbled over the pressure. One guard even broke into the stairs leading up to the throne. The man glared back at the king, "You shall not address me with such ignominy! You shall learn my name and heed it, for I am Victor Von Doom."

Dr. Doom began his stride towards the throne, taking his proud steps to confront the king face to face. He towered over him and his shadow was cast over the throne, "I demand you send me back to my world from which I came."

The king crawled back on his throne, trying to distance the now-shielded man, "I would love nothing more than to cast you from this world!" He voiced with a growl. His scowl turned turned to a face of solemn, "Sadly, that is only possible once this world's problems are resolved."

"What is this obstacle?"

"I was about to get to that, Shield Hero, before you assaulted the throne!"

"Victor Von Doom has no time for your insignificant concerns." The man stepped away from the throne, the other heroes were just getting back on their feet and their weapons were going up.

The king cleared his throat, sitting back down as comfortably as he could and raising a hand to the heroes, "You three may stand down."

The three boys were hesitant, but did as they were told. The man in metal stood before the four conscious figures, arms crossed over one another and facing the king.

Melromarc sighed, "Spear Hero, please introduce yourself and we shall perdure the discussion of the reason for all of your summoning here."

The blonde stepped forward with reluctance, but met the king with a smile. He pointed to himself with his thumb, "You can call me Motoyasu Kitamura, your majesty. It's a pleasure to be here."

The king nodded, "I am glad all of you are here, for Melromarc has come under the incursion of the Waves of Calamity. The Waves consist of portals being opened which monsters of another dimension come to wreck havoc on the people and land. One wave has already come upon our world and has taken the lives of Melromarc citizens." The king raised his hands, "Long ago, mages came up with a new method of fending against such Waves; they summoned champions from other worlds to defend us! We have won all the battles before now, and now you four have been summoned, much like the heroes before you, to help us in our endeavors."

The king looked to Victor, "Of course, if you become victorious against the Waves, you have the option of being sent home with many new luxuries and a much more favorable position than you previously had." The king waved his hand, to the others, "Or, you may stay in this world and be regarded as heroes for the rest of your lives in luxury!"

Doom lowered his gaze, _A more favorable position? Does this mean the potential for defeating Reed Richards and proving that Doom is, ultimately, superior to his rival? Perhaps Richards may not have ever existed and my face would not be scarred. Or mother's soul…_

"For now, none of you are ready to face such a threat." The king reminded, to which he caught the glare of Doom. Aultcray cleared his throat, "Or, at least most of you. So I have asked for volunteers throughout the nation to help you in your efforts to stop the waves and help you improve yourselves in this world."

Itsuki raised his hand.

The king saw the hand and nodded to the boy in green, to which the boy began waved to the other heroes, "Sire, wouldn't it be better for the four of us to work together? We have all the proper attributes a party should have."

"That is a brilliant point. However," he pointed to the boys bow, "your affiliated weapons, in fact, become less effective when you work as a group outside of the Waves. In order to be most potent in the upcoming battles, you four must spread out and grow separately. Thus, I have asked the most competent among our world's warriors to help you in your efforts."

"You will be assigned your volunteers early next morning." The king continued, "Until then, I suggest you all get some rest so you can be ready to become stronger and venture into the world."

The king looked to the Shield Hero with a glare, whose arms were still crossed, "Any questions or issues?"

"If what you say is true, that once returning to our world our positions will be more favorable, then I accept this task of defending this land." He looked up with a glare of his own, "However, Doom fights for himself, not you or your nation."

With that, Doom turned away towards a servant who beckoned them to follow to their rooms. Once they all got to the room, they found four beds spread around the room and a table in the middle of the room with four chalices. There was also four closet spaces for the four heroes to put their clothes in. On the farthest side of the room was a balcony separate from the room by a glass set of doors.

Doom began his stride to the windows overlooking the village and the night sky of this world where the stars outside the atmosphere was visible. It was nothing compared to the brilliance of the sky from mountaintops, ventures Victor had gone on before. But, it was different this time. None of the constellations he was used to were visible in the sky. He truly was away from his universe, not just in a different solar system as he initially thought.

His stargazing was interrupted by Itsuki Kawasumi, "So, you said your name was Victor Von Doom?"

The ruler of Latveria didn't turn his head. "Yes, I did."

The other boy, Motoyasu, was the next to talk, "C'mon, don't even try talking to that guy! He was about to attack the king just because he needed our help." He scoffed.

Doom was about to respond before Ren waved his comment to the side, "He already said he would help, and I'm personally glad someone like him is on our side, even if he isn't with us per say."

"Come to think of it," Itsuki interjected, "How is someone like him one that's summoned?"

"What do you mean?" Motoyasu inquired. "We were summoned, right? It's the same thing."

The green clothed boy shook his head, "Yeah, but he seems to have some magical abilities. I don't know about you guys, but magic doesn't exist from what I remember."

Ren nodded, "Must be the shield, which is odd considering that was never mentioned in the game."

Motoyasu nodded, "Yeah, I thought the shield was the weakest weapon in the game! But being able to do something like that is-."

Doom turned around, "The mystical arts I have honed over my years of training have nothing to do with this pathetic shield." He scanned the three boys, "Why are you three boys talking about a game?"

Itsuki frowned, "Um, we're talking about the game this world is based off of. The four Cardinal Heroes, the Waves, all of it is too close to the game." He gestured toward the Latverian ruler, "It was called _Dimension Wave, _it was a popular console game back home."

Motoyasu slammed the table, leaning forward with a frown, "The hell are you talking about? Don't give him the wrong idea, it was the PC game, _Emerald Online!_ I've never even heard of '_Dimension Wave._'"

Ren crossed his arms, "You're both idiots, consoles and PC games have been outdated for years. The only things out now are VRMMO games." He looked at both of them before continuing, "It's based off of _Brave Star Online_."

The three began bickering at one another, the two boys claiming virtual reality doesn't exist while the other went through a history the others denied ever happening. It was a clear picture what had happened, Doom realized it as their initial conversations took place trying to inform him about what this world was.

He began shaking his head, "It is clear what has happened." The three boys stopped bickering and looked up at the towering man, "I have experience with these kinds of predicaments, and it is clear all four of us come from different realities of Earth."

The three boys exchanged glances.

Ren nodded, "That would explain how your guys' worlds are so primitive. The technology I'm familiar with is leagues above what you're all used to."

Itsuki nodded, placing a hand on his chin looking up to the boys, "That would also explain why Doom has such powerful magic." He looked back to the armored man, "If you're that strong, what is your world like that allows you such abilities?"

Dr. Doom glared down at the boy with a chuckle, "A reality where men have created pocket dimensions with technology, travel through time by condensing to the size of an atom, and men who have mastered the mystical arts to the extent they can travel to other dimensions." Victor raised his left hand, allowing his arm to spark electricity around his gauntlet, "I am considered a threat to those with such power."

The three boys stared at the man. Ren raised an eyebrow, obviously skeptical.

Itsuki, however, grinned, "Well, someone as powerful as you is someone I'm more than happy to have on our side."

Motoyasu nodded, "Yeah, I second that! It sounds like you might be able to take on the Waves single handedly, Doom."

"That does bring up a big question, though." Ren sounded. Victor let his hand go to his side and looked to the youngest of the group, "Why would someone as powerful as you be playing a game?"

Doom hardly moved as he spoke, "I do not waste my time on trivial activities such as that. I was simply going through my library, in an attempt to expand my knowledge to a new horizon when I saw a book that hadn't belonged. Upon opening the book and reading it, the summoning circle appeared around me." He clenched his fist and raised it, "I attempted to resist the dimensional hopping magic with a similar incantation, but this world's magic was incompatible with my own, thus it didn't work. It is for the same reason why Doom hasn't escaped this prison of a world!"

Itsuki's eyes widened, "So you actually were giving the summoners a hard time like the head mage said?" He leaned back in his chair and let out a whistle, "Wow, that's something else."

Motoyasu grinned, standing up and meeting Victor's eyes, "I know you probably aren't happy to be here, but I'm glad we have a strong ally like you to help fend against the waves." He held a hand out to shake the Latverian's, "Let's try to get along for the time we're here. Which will probably be short thanks to you."

Doom turned away, walking towards the balcony. "Of course it will be short lived. For Victor Von Doom, the sole ruler of Latveria, wills it to be so!"


	2. Chapter 2

The Sun began to rise and the Cardinal Heroes awoke with the new day. Ren was the first to wake up, though he woke up just before the Sun began to ascend the horizon. These beds were much more difficult to sleep on after having beds that felt like floating in air at home. To his surprise, he wasn't the only one of the four to be awake, as Victor Von Doom seemed to be awake as well. He stood on the balcony, watching the Sun turn from red to yellow as it changed its angle on the planet.

He still had a hard time believing some of the things Doom had told him. _I mean, seriously, time travel and pocket dimensions? That is simply impossible, even in my Japan. Then he added _magic _on top of that._

Ren thought back to the throne room, the glow from his gauntlet smoking like a gauntlet before he moved his arm, shooting an invisible force towards the ground. It hit all the heroes and guards like a train and knocked the wind out of him from the initial shockwave alone! Even Ren was on the ground for several minutes before he could even manage to get up and when Doom turned around, he put up his sword on reflex. He was sure that he didn't stand a chance against him; had Victor thought him a threat, he knew he would be dead.

_Even if he was bluffing to intimidate us all, it is still very apparent that he is powerful. _With a sigh, he stood to meet the day and get ready to head out for some quests this world had to offer. _Once I get stronger, I'll be able to defeat even Victor Von Doom if I have to!_

As Ren took his first step, Doom turned around, meeting Ren's eyes with a gaze of his own. The so-called king of Latveria marched into the room, hands behind his back. He towered over Ren, being a whole head and a half taller than him and a permanent frown welded into his mask.

"Get enough sleep?" Ren humored the metal clad man.

Victor simply took a deep breath before turning his gaze to the door, "It was morning when the summoners decided to steal Doom from his rightful place in Latveria."

"You were awake all night? Must have been boring."

He looked back at Ren before pulling his hands from behind his back, revealing a large book, "I occupied myself by learning the language of this world. The literature in this world makes non-fiction resemble that of fantasy in my world."

Ren frowned, taking a step back, "Y-you learned an entire language no one has seen before in one night?"

"As if I would be foolish enough to venture into this world without an understanding of my surroundings." He dropped the book in Ren's hands, which he almost dropped due to the weight. "'Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action.' Wise words from a writer in my world, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe."

Victor Von Doom took his leave with that advice, coldly closing the door with a slight slam of the door. Ren was left with a book in hand and a now disoriented Motoyasu that jumped awake from the commotion.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Jeez, that guy's just all kinds of rude." He stretched before standing up himself. He looked at Ren with a cocked eyebrow, "Hey, what's up with that book, Amaki? Early morning reading?"

Ren hadn't looked away from the door, nor had his scowl left his face, "Can't read the language."

Motoyasu shrugged, placing his lance on his shoulder, "So, you got as bad of a feeling about this Doom guy as I do?"

Ren finally looked back with a nod, "I don't know yet."

The blonde shook his head, "That guy tried attacking the king, after all. He was just asking for help!"

Ren sighed, "He did mention last night that he was a ruler of a nation himself before storming to the balcony. Maybe he's simply thinking about his people and trying to keep order."

Motoyasu chuckled, "You mean 'Latveria?' Listen, when the three of us began talking about our worlds last night, there was only slight differences in our worlds. In none of them were there any extra countries."

"We only talked about Japan."

"That's beside the point!" Kitamura waved away the defense, "Look, I want to trust the guy, it would be really awesome to have someone like that at our backs! I just don't think I- no, I don't think _we _can afford to trust him."

A third voice came from outside the conversation, from Itsuki, "I agree with Motoyasu, but I also feel reluctant to do anything about him now." He was sitting at the end of his bed, the bow laid across his lap, "You guys both saw Doom, he flicked his hand and a small militia of highly trained soldiers was defeated. I'm the last person that would want to admit defeat before we had a chance to fight, but it just isn't possible yet."

The two nodded, then the oldest among them, Motoyasu, raised a clenched fist, "Then, when we get stronger, when we level up enough, we fight him! We fight Victor Von Doom to make Melromarc a safer place for everyone." He put his hand down, grinning to the other heroes, "How about it, guys?"

Itsuki smiled, standing up, "I don't like the idea of scheming against someone we're supposed to be allies with." He placed his hand on top of Motoyasu's, "If he can't prove himself to be a proper hero, I'll join that fight."

They both turned to Ren, who exchanged looks between the Bow Hero and the Spear Hero. He sighed, placing the book down and heading towards the door of the room, "If he turns out to be a bad guy, then I'll help you both out. I just want to be sure of it myself." He grabbed the handle and turned the golden knob, the door effortlessly turning open. He stopped before leaving, "No promises."

The Sword hero left the room, and the two blondes nodded to each other with grins.

**Melromarc Throne Room**

The four Cardinal Heroes stood in the same formation as they did the night before. The fool king, Aultcray, was sat upon his throne as well. The main difference this time around was the broken walls and floors were still present as they entered the second time and standing to the sides of the room were men and women alike that were in armor and had weapons at their backs and sides.

_So these are the volunteers that wanted to help our task? These subordinates had better be worth the time. _Doom scrutinized as he switched his shield from the right arm to the left arm. _This shield better also have more application than simply being a hunk of metal upon my arm, otherwise it is a simple obstruction._

The king stood and beckoned to the heroes with a smile across his face, "Cardinal Heroes, I trust you had a good night's rest and a warm meal in your bellies this morning!" He lowered his arms and placed them behind his back, "Sadly, we have naught the time for conversation. As mentioned before, we have asked for volunteers in our nation to stand and fight with the Cardinal Heroes against the Waves of Calamity! You will also be given a small pittance to afford new gear and other necessities to begin your adventures."

Doom began to search the crowd for any warrior that might seem worth having as a soldier of his. Among the crowd, he observed their body language, their mannerisms, and any indicator that might judge their character.

Each time Victor met the eyes of the men, they would respond with a face of disgust. The women did the same, except they eventually left the disgust for angst. Doom took a deep breath.

_It seems they have some preconceptions about me. _Doom continued to converse with the crowd's eyes with his own, continually meeting nothing but those glances. It seemed they all had similar ideas about him!

Except one, a woman with bright red hair and a leather set of armor covering her forearms, torso and lower shoulders. Along her left side was a long sword.

She met Doom with warm eyes before turning to the king.

_Peculiar, what makes her look at me with indifference compared to the rest of the lot?_

The king began again and Doom turned forward, "Volunteers, choose your hero you want to party with! Then you shall venture forth into the world as you see fit."

With that, the adventurers filed behind their chosen heroes. As expected from Victor from the reactions, not one man or woman stood behind the Latverian.

"Then, it is decided." The king finally nodded.

Ren, however, frowned towards the king, "Hold on, Doom doesn't have any party members. Should he not have at least one person?"

Dr. Doom simply put his hands behind his back, responding to Ren, "Do not speak for me, Sword Hero. If Dr. Doom wanted help, I would ask for it myself." He kept his glare forward; head held high, "As it stands, I do not believe I need assistance."

"Are you kidding me?" Motoyasu scoffed, "Look, you might be a bit strong, but it's not like you know much about this world like the rest of us do, you only just picked up that, what was it, a book, before you got summoned."

Ren turned to the king, "Would it be okay for me to give him one of my party members? I have too many as it is."

The king frowned, "That isn't how this works Cardinal Heroes, we cannot just force-."

Melromarc was interrupted by a voice of higher octave, "If I may, your majesty?" Doom turned around, meeting the red-haired woman from before. She was standing just out of line, hands behind her back, "If it would be okay with you, I would like to join the Shield Hero's party."

Victor glared at her. The king responded before the armor-clad man could, "If it is of your own accord, there is no issue."

Motoyasu frowned, stepping towards the woman, "Hold on, are you sure you want to party with him? Think about what you're saying."

She nodded with a smile, "Don't worry, Spear Hero, I have a good feeling about this." She walked toward the Latverian, and then turned back to the Spear Hero, "I'll be just fine!" She turned to her fellow party member, "Right?"

The king raised his head, "If there are no further objections, you all are free to leave the castle at your leisure."

With that, Victor was the first to begin marching out of the throne room. The redhead followed suit, headed for the world to begin their adventure.

**The Fields Outside of Town**

The woman ran in front of the Shield Hero, hands behind her back and a smile on her face, "So, now that we're alone I think this is a great time for introductions!" She looked up to the metal man, placing a hand on her chest, "My name is Malty, happy to make your acquaintance."

"You shall address me as Doom." He glared down at her, "Why did you change your mind?"

Malty took a step back, her smile not fading, "Right to the point, I see." She turned to the side, placing a finger on her chin, "Well, your whole demeanor seems to tell a different story than what everyone has been told."

"The reason why everyone, including the king, has been attempting to ostracize me, I presume."

She nodded, turning back towards the party leader, "Sadly, yes. There have been rumors going around the past couple of days about the Shield Hero. They were saying nasty things about how weak you were going to be. According to some pieces of history, this has always been what happens." She put her hands on her hips with a smirk, "But from what I heard from the royal guard, you took out all the king's men that defended the throne with a single swipe of your hand. Obviously, someone like that should be revered much higher than they're being pegged as."

He nodded, looking out into the distance at the forests and mountains visible to any naked eye. "So, is the reason you brought me out of town to prove how I actually fair to the people?"

She placed her right hand and her left hand together according to their respective fingertips, head cocked to the side, "So-o-omething like that." She turned around, hands behind her back again, "I kind of wanted to see what you could do, get a good idea about how good you were at level one."

"Level… one?"

She turned back to him, "O-oh, you don't know about that system?" She walked over to his left side, pointing to the shield, "May I show you?"

He lifted his shield wielding gauntlet. She tapped the green gem in the middle of the shield and a projection not unlike the holographic projections he had in Latveria emerged from the gem. It was a form of user interface, which had information and icons littered over it.

Malty pointed to the upper right corner, where characters in English placed before a box that read: _Lvl. 1._

The adventurer began, "That shows your level and the box next to it is your experience bar. As you defeat monsters, you'll gain experience and the bar will fill in until it reaches the next level." She pointed to other icons, "From here, you may also see all of your other skills relating to your shield and even other shields you get from defeating monsters around the world!"

She paced behind the titled hero, popping her head through to Dr. Doom's right side, "Because you're only at level one, I'm curious about what exactly you're capable of and how much experience you gain from defeating monsters yourself."

Victor glared at the girl, "You question Dr. Doom's capabilities?"

She waved her hand, "I already know you're powerful, but maybe humor me. Get a good idea about how to work that shield of yours so you can be the best Shield Hero you can be!" She turned around, pointing away from the forest but towards more open fields. "In that direction are a few low level pests that shouldn't be too difficult for someone like you to kill. They like to hide in tall grass, so just begin walking through the grass and pop them like balloons."

Doom stepped forward, shaking his head, "I will not waste my time finding them individually, but if you insist on me killing these creatures," the armor-clad man raised his hand towards the field, his hand beginning to glow once more.

He could feel dozens of small, round beings within his invisible and tenacious grasp. He raised his hand slightly more, which prompted dozens of small, orange monsters reminiscent of balloons rise high above the field. Dr. Doom closed his hand, which forced them all to converge in a single, condensed ball none could escape from.

Victor narrowed his gaze on the creatures as he placed his shielded hand behind his back, "They shall all be scourged from this world by the hand of Doom!"

He finally clenched his hand tightly. As he did, the large ball of monsters screeched as they were suddenly pushed together with the might of what could be compared to the Hulk! In less than five seconds, every single pathetic creature was nothing but a rubbery heap of scraps. The scream of their demise echoed over the fields and eventually died down before Doom turned back to Malty.

Her eyes were wide and her hand over her mouth.

**Malty**

_N-no way! They might have been low level monsters, but to kill so many so easily, as a Shield Hero?! _She turned back to Victor, his gaze unchanged from before. _Did it even drain _any_ mana from him?_

She cleared her throat, "W-well, that was definitely a spectacle you put on. But we aren't done with them ju-u-ust yet." She walked towards the orange pile of dead monsters, picking up a scrap and handing it to the armor-clad powerhouse. "In order to gain experience from them, you have to take their remnants and absorb it into your shield."

Doom opened his right hand, allowing Malty to place the shred in his hand. He lifted the shred and placed it over the green gem of his shield. Once he dropped the scrap, the gem began to shine a brilliant white light. The orange scrap was subsequently sucked into the position of the green gem. Once the orange scrap was completely absorbed by the shield, a projection appeared.

_+1 EXP_

After that message, another one pushed the previous message to the side.

_*New Shield Unlocked*_

_Balloon Shield_

"Intriguing." When the normal projected menu returned, the box that showed his progression had only subtly filled in, the left side of the box colored with more white than before. "Though, a waste of one's time."

_No kidding, _She looked back at the pile of orange scraps, thinking about the creatures that plagued this world, _At first, I thought he was an arrogant ass for speaking so highly about himself. Now, I think he might be right about it all._

The pile quickly began rising from the ground and began absorbing into the shield in a vortex seemingly created by Doom. It took a mere twelve seconds before any patch of balloon might as well not have existed. On his menu, it showed he had gained 52 experience from all the monsters.

"Fifty three monsters killed with a clench of your hand, eh?" Malty managed a smirk, "Perhaps you really didn't need me after all."

Dr. Doom lowered his shield then turned to the forest. "Killing these meager annoyances will only be a deficit towards making this shield an equal to my own power."

Malty nodded, "Sure, I can agree with that. However," he turned his cold gaze to the adventurer, "I'm not exactly geared up to fight something that strong right now. I'm gonna need more protection than a bit of leather."

"Then don't fight alongside me, Doom doesn't need inconveniences so trivial."

The redhead huffed, "Wait a minute, we're a party! We _have _to travel together!"

"I have yet to see your usefulness to me," He stepped towards her, glaring down, "I will neither tolerate being ordered around nor accept being bound by one as feeble as yourself."

She stepped back, a frown growing on her face, "B-but didn't I show you how to level up? Without that, you couldn't grow in strength, Doom."

"Let me explain something to you," Dr. Doom raised his right hand, his green energy shining through the metal casing and steaming in the same green smoke. "I could have already destroyed this entire kingdom by now. No living thing could withstand the power I've honed over my years of training in this world, which is clear. If you think that a few ambitious monsters from a parallel reality are enough to persuade my nerves to deter, you are mistaken."

Malty swallowed the air in her dry mouth, and was about to retaliate before Doom began to speak again.

"Doom is, however, a man of his word. You have taught me a crucial piece of information, proving you are useful to me after all." He turned back to the city, "If you are adamant on believing your gear unsuitable, you should have the proper equipment for the future."

_The hell is wrong with this guy! He threatens to kill me then pulls a complete 180 and tells me to suit up to travel with him! _She began her stride ahead of him, nodding.

"Then, I'll go ahead towards the best blacksmith I know. Okay?"

Doom nodded to her, "You know the city better than I, at the moment."

With that, the two were off and on their way to buy new equipment.

**Blacksmith Shop**

**Dr. Doom**

The two entered the store, which was announced by the ring of the bell above the door. They were greeted by a man with a bald head and a black beard that closely resembled the king's if not a bit minimized. He had a large scar across his right temple and a smaller one under his left cheekbone. He wore a simple white t-shirt under a brown apron, which allowed him to show off his musculature. Covering his hands was a pair of thick, black gloves.

He smiled at the two with friendly brown eyes, "Hey, adventurers! I'm Erhard, the owner and crafter at this shop." He lifted the top of his torso off the desk he was leaning on, "Anything you're looking for specifically?"

Victor was the first to respond, "Indeed, we were hoping to inquire about armor and perhaps even a sword."

Erhard nodded, "Alright, for you or the lovely maiden at your side?"

"Both for her, however I might want to inquire about a weapon myself."

"Ah, I see." The shopkeeper pointed to his left, "Women's armor is on that side of the shop, find something you like and bring up to the desk."

Malty nodded, "Thank you," she turned to Victor with a wave, "I'll be back."

Doom didn't acknowledge her mannerisms. The blacksmith grinned at Dr. Doom, "Before we search for your weapon, I gotta know," He pointed to the armor encased around Doom, "Where the hell did you manage to get your hands on such a versatile armor set like that?"

Victor raised his head, "This armor was crafted by myself, though the original armor was crafted by monks I trained under atop mountain years ago."

"How about that," Erhard scratched the back of his head, "You could probably give me a dozen pointers in smithing with skill like that!"

"The weapon, shopkeeper."

The older man laughed, "Right, sorry about that. Follow me."

He took the lead towards the opposite side of the shop, where a plethora of choices laid before both men. "If you're looking for finesse, a fencing swords is where its at. But if you're looking for blunt power, a mace is what you want."

Doom looked upwards at shelves above the other weapons where a bow laid for someone to purchase. Victor looked back down at the swords before attempting to grab a hilt of a sword. As he did, his hand was bitten by an electrical storm forming from his hand and the sword! He immediately retracted his hand.

"Woah, wait a minute!" Erhard awed. "You're a Cardinal Hero, aren't you?!"

Behind the boys, were interrupted by Malty, "Yes, and he isn't the Sword Hero." She strode towards the party leader, picked up the sword he attempted to grab with ease, "You can't use anything that isn't the weapon you were assigned, sadly." She looked back at the Latverian, "I'm sure you would have been able to wreck havoc on monsters with a sword."

Erhard gazed down at the shield, nodded, then looked back at the man's encased face, "The Shield Hero, at my store? I can hardly believe it."

Dr. Doom, turned back to the blacksmith, "I suppose I won't be purchasing a weapon after all."

Once Malty got fitted into her new armor, which cost almost half of their pittance, they walked out of the blacksmith shop. It didn't matter to Doom, their money flow would increase in the future and knowing his subordinate was protected from the dangers of this world was plenty of reassurance. However, once they stepped into the center of town, the Sun was already setting.

Moving around town took longer than Victor had expected it to. He was tired, however, as he had gone what was essentially a day and a half without rest.

Malty even suggested going to an inn for the night before going on a real adventure tomorrow. Though the idea was inviting, Victor was hesitant to rest. He had the willpower to refrain from sleeping for weeks on end and feel little effect on his mind; it wasn't an issue for him. However, the girl was not capable of that. If she fell in battle because he didn't care for her well-being, it would only prove to even himself that he was not a proper leader.

He gave in. Though due to budget he would only allow a lower end inn. They both checked into separate rooms, which Doom went directly to his room to rest for the first time in a while.

He heard what he was waiting for at some point in the night. Light footsteps that only sought to prove the suspicions he had from the beginning.

Dr. Doom was no fool, and could not be fooled by a mere wench using her body and charm to sway him like he was a hormonal teenager! He followed her footsteps all the way out of the inn. He locked his door with an incantation, creating a time paradox within his room and headed for the window to trail Malty.

She walked through the streets and alleys while Doom levitated above the rooftops, waiting for her to meet whoever she was planning on meeting. Even from his distance, he could see what she was wearing, torn clothes that showed patches of skin even on some of the more scandalous of places. She ran into an alley, where a familiar boy in red was visible.

Malty ran to him, taking hold of him as if he had come to her rescue. Dr. Doom would not allow this continue, he began to descend to their position. As he lowered, their conversation became clearer.

Malty's voice was shaking, "…I couldn't even see what was crushing my throat, I-I-I was so scared for my life! That-that monster of a human, h-he…"

Motoyasu brought her to his chest in an embrace, "I should have known he would do something like-!" He placed his free hand on the back of her head, "You have my word, Doom will pay for what he's done. I'll put his head on a pike!"

Through the embrace, Doom could see her smirk. He had enough!

"The harlot has resorted to propagandizing my name to sully the reputation of Doom, has she?" The two looked up, Malty with a genuine face of horror and Motoyasu of anger. Doom finally landed on the ground of the alley, "The strike made only by cowards."

Kitimura moved in front of Malty, readying his lance, "Like you have any room to talk, you bastard! I knew you were a jerk, but I didn't know you were a damn criminal."

Doom placed his hands behind his back, "You refer to her tall tale that I, what, forced myself upon her?" He waved the notion away with his hand, before beginning to pace back and forth, "A clever ruse, but it was a true underestimation of my knowledge, Malty Melromarc."

She jumped at her name being called out, which made Doom grin under his mask. "You didn't think Doom know your true intentions? You see, last night I decided I couldn't live in this world for any amount of time without understanding the basics of the world. The first thing I did was learn the written language of the world; it was very similar to ancient Egyptian tablets back on my own Earth." Doom stopped pacing, turning to both Motoyasu and Malty, "Then, I needed a better understanding of the Waves of Calamity, so I decided on learning the history of this world. Upon reading these texts, I also followed the Melromarc family lineage, a matriarchal government system which spanned down to even the current generation. One name stood out in particular, Malty S. Melromarc."

Kitimura growled, "Shut the hell up! So what if she's royalty?"

Victor sighed, "You aren't thinking about the string of events, Spear Hero. Why would the princess of the royal family be so eager to join forces of the Shield Hero, who knew of the rumors that said hero is said to be weak and evil?" The armored man continued, shrugging off the scowl of Kitimura, "Why would her father, a man that seemed eager to ignore my very existence and despised my being summoned here, allow his eldest daughter to join my party?"

Motoyasu shook his head, "I don't know! Maybe he wanted to give you a second chance." The Spear Hero braced his body, "I don't care about that right now, all I care about is protecting Malty from your evil clutches!"

"Oh? And what do you propose you're going to do in order to protect her?" Doom chuckled, "Are you going to attempt to charge me? You could barely stand after I indirectly hit you the day before with my concussive burst from my gauntlet." He raised his right gauntlet, clenching his fist.

"Doesn't matter if I'm fighting for what's right! I'll win, no matter what, because good always triumphs over evil." He replied with an idiotic grin.

"If good triumphs over evil, then I wish to off a proposal, Kitimura." Victor lowered his right arm and raised his left, where the shield was bound. "I will only use my shield against you; you may use any abilities you've found today in your adventures. If I win, then I am good and she is evil, by your own admission, thus you take my testimony."

"But if I win, you will face the consequences of your actions, even if it means you die for your crimes!"

Victor nodded with a chuckle, bracing the shield in front of him and keeping his right hand behind his back, "If that is your choice, I happily accept those terms."

"So do I!" Kitimura charged forward, his spear grasped and trailing behind him.

As he approached the armored man, he flung the spear upwards, and then pulled it down as he got within poking range. For Kitimura, Victor was sure it seemed incredibly fast. However, to Victor, this attack was as slow as an infant crawling on the floor for the first time.

The Shield Hero took half a step back, and then braced the shield. It grazed the metal of the shield as Victor waited for the right moment. The instant that the blade reached the gap of the shield between the metal and the green gem on the face.

_Now! _Doom pushed forward, hitting the center of balance of the shield perfectly. The force of the Shield Hero's parry sent the spear downwards at a vastly superior force than what Kitimura could ever throw. The blade was sent crashing into the ground with a loud clash!

Victor used the momentum of the parry to swing the shield around, connecting the shield against Motoyasu's face and throwing him and the now dislodged spear against the concrete wall. The wall cracked, but Kitimura simply shook his head and picked himself back up.

Doom nodded, "So, you have leveled up since you left the castle?"

"Yeah, I see you have too! Didn't think something like that would come from your move list."

Doom shook his head, "I am still only level one," Doom glared at his opponent, "This is purely skill and discipline, just a small increment of it at that."

"Y-you're holding back!" Kitimura slammed the spear into his off-hand, "You don't think I'm worth taking seriously or something?!"

"It isn't that, I have no issue using my full strength…" Doom's gaze turned to a scowl as his eyes began to glow a familiar green, "As long as you don't have any issue meeting a swift end!"

Kitimura charged again, screaming, "WILL YOU STOP TALKING LIKE YOU'RE SOME BIGSHOT?"

This time, the strike was a piercing jab. Doom ducked slightly and aimed his shield to be parallel with the spear. What he didn't anticipate was the opponent to yell something else.

"_Air Strike Spear!_"

A sudden gust of wind began to blow in his direction, which forced Doom to shift his shield forward. He blocked the attack easily, but was pushed away from his target. His metal feet slid against the concrete and he pushed his shield into the building to the left of him to decrease his momentum. He stopped once he was outside of the alley and jumped further into the street.

Kitimura walked slowly into the street with a grin, the spear on his shoulder. "You like that? Learned that ability earlier today, it lets me hit my target at a distance without actually hitting them."

"Indeed, that does seem useful. However, it was fairly easy to detect." Doom placed his left hand behind his back, "Unlike my attack, it seems."

"What attack are yo-?"

The building to Motoyasu's right began to creak, which he slowly turned towards before the foundation finally snapped. The wooden building came tumbling down towards the Spear Hero! He acted fast, jumping over the initial wave of wood before slamming his spear's butt into the ground and using it to pole vault forward. He managed to escape the attack!

His smiled, no doubt feeling proud over his accomplishment. His grin was met with the shield, now on Doom's right hand, slamming against Motoyasu's face yet again and sending him crashing to the ground. The strike and the impact to the ground stopped his momentum completely and cratered the ground beneath him.

Victor waited for the boy to get up, but his eyes never opened. He was unconscious, not dead.

The Shield Hero scoffed, placing his hands behind his back, "I have not used my full strength, yet you still fall so easily."

He finally looked up from his fight. He was in the center of a city intersection, built in a circle where people would congregate during the daytime. Now, the people were in their sleepwear, horrified at the scene they had just witnessed. Pushing through the dispersing crowd was the clanking of armor.

The city guard all stood, readying their weapons against the Latverian. The head guard scowled at the Shield Hero, then the Spear Hero, who was defeated at his feet. He pointed a sword towards Victor.

"By order of the king and for the crimes you've committed against Melromarc, her people, and the Spear Hero; I hereby place the Shield Hero under arrest!"


	3. Chapter 3

It was morning by the time Victor and the guards got back to the castle. Doom didn't like the idea of being a prisoner. As if he was just a lowly peasant that could be framed for something he didn't do. However, he needed to speak with King Melromarc. He knew the king was obviously involved in this scheme to sully the reputation of Victor Von Doom.

_They wished to make me out as some pusillanimous rapist and spread the message across the nation! _The group finally got to the castle entrance as the Sun began its ascendance over the horizon. "The King _will _answer to Dr. Doom."

**Throne Room**

When he got to the throne room, he took the lead rather than the guards. He stalked towards the king, who stood from his throne as Victor approached. To his left, Ren and Itsuki both were side-by-side looking at Doom with disappointment.

This only flared Dr. Doom's desired conniption further. Then the king began to talk.

Rather, shout, "What have you done with my daughter you damned, Shield Hero?! I always knew you were an evil individual, but I hadn't the clue you were so cowardly!"

_Cowardly? Dr. Doom? The Destroyer of Worlds, one of few that held the Power Cosmic and the powers of the Beyonder, was being called a coward! By this scrap of human waste? _Doom's eyes burned green as he raised his left arm. He let the energy course through his body and launched a sliver of green at the king's feet. Once it impacted, the concrete and the carpet blew apart. A small chunk of rock managed to hit the king below his jaw which sent him crashing into his seat once more.

Doom was about to approach the stairs leading to the king's site when he heard the sound of something stretching, a sound he wasn't unfamiliar with. He turned his heard as Itsuki let loose the arrow once holstered in his grip.

_It shall not come near me, for that is the will of Doom._

Five feet from where he stood, the arrow crashed against an invisible shield. It exploded into light, dispersing into the air. Doom began to laugh and cock his head back, placing his hands behind his back. Once he was done being amused by the feeble attempt on his life, he let his head narrow back down to the two boys. Ren was in a defensive stance of his own.

"None of you realize just how insignificant any of you are." Doom began his stride towards the boys, staring them both down without pause, "You think of yourself as heroes, as the ones that can win every fight, but none of you can win _any _fight!"

Ren began his charge, moving around Victor to flank his side. Victor didn't acknowledge his movement, as Itsuki was charging another arrow.

Itsuki began a speech of his own, "You say that now, but once you get beaten today you'll know just how wrong you are, Victor!" He let the arrow go.

Simultaneously, Ren was on Doom's left, preparing a thrust of his sword. Doom moved swiftly and accurately, allowing the arrow to enter his space only to smack it just after the tip of the projectile. It redirected, slamming against Ren's shoulder and sending him flying in the opposite direction! Doom turned back to Itsuki, punching him with a direct strike of his concussive blast. He flew against the glass of the castle, shattering the window and causing him to fall back to the ground with fresh cuts.

Footsteps sounded behind the Shield Hero. He sidestepped, the Sword Hero's weapon crashing into the ground. Ren looked up with wide eyes before his gut met the boot of the armored man above him. He flew to the opposite side of the room, landing on the ground and sliding towards the wall just fast enough to tap it as he stopped.

With a sigh, Victor marched back towards the king. "Have your men bring wine. We must have a talk."

The king paused for a minute before he gave the order. A servant anxiously came into the throne room minutes later with a wine bottle. Both men were handed glasses and the servant was about to poor the king's drink before Victor took the bottle himself.

"We can pour our own drinks, fool. You are dismissed!" The servant glanced at his king before taking a swift sprint towards the door. By now, both the boys were just getting back up. Doom looked back, his eyes narrowing, "It seems the Spear Hero has yet to arrive, though it matters not."

Ren raised his sword, gritting his teeth. "You know, for a minute I actually thought you could have been a good guy. I can't believe I was so stupid to think that!"

Doom lowered his gaze to the Sword Hero. "Why were you called here, Ren Amaki?"

"Why?" He looked back at the armored man, "Because the king told Kawasumi and I that you hurt Malty! Now we learn that you also beat Kitamura and destroyed a part of town."

The Latverian began his march down the steps, uncorking the bottle of wine before pouring it into the chalice. "I will not deny that the Spear Hero decided it was best to fight me; a terrible decision for any individual to make." He stopped pouring, lifting the wine bottle over the carpet before letting it fall out of his hand. It crashed on the carpet, the maroon beverage being absorbed into the red carpet. He moved onto the stone, where Ren sat on his knees still. "A bit of damages incurred during said fight, as well."

"So you're admitting to it!" Ren used the sword to pick himself back up, "I should stab your throat right where you stand."

Victor flicked one finger on his free hand and Ren was sent against the pillar, stuck on the wall with no way out.

"It would be wise not to speak until I tell you to do so." The ruler took a sip of his wine before glaring back at the Sword Hero, "I never placed a hand on that harlot, Malty Melromarc." He turned away from Ren, releasing his grasp and letting him fall back on his knees, "I knew nearly the whole time she ushered to join my party that the king and princess were conspiring against me. They knew they couldn't face me face-to-face, so instead they attempted to disgrace my name."

"Bullshit!" A voice sounded at the entrance of the throne room. Both heroes turned to the voice, where Kitamura stood with a bandage around his head. Malty hid behind him, a scowl on her face. "I don't believe you for a damn minute, you bastard!"

Itsuki piped up, "Me neither. If you really suspected they would betray you, why wouldn't you have told any of us about it? We could have helped you if it were true!"

Doom shook his head, "I told you all before, Doom requires no assistance." He dropped the chalice, letting the last of the wine hit the floor, spilling into every crease between the stones which he stood. "It only amused me to see such pathetic attempts to put me at a disadvantage. I wanted to see what they would do."

Motoyasu growled, "Whatever! Still doesn't change the fact you attacked the king just now, you're going to pay for your crime."

"You may try to arrest me, maybe even kill me if you want to fight once more." Victor turned to the end of the room, where the king sat with his hands clenched to the chair, "But first, I have unfinished business with the king."

He began his march.

"No you don't!" Itsuki responded with another arrow, which only dispersed like the first arrow had.

Ren scrambled to his feet, "Come on, Motoyasu!" Both boys charged forward.

"_Air Strike Spear!_"

The air pushed against Doom, but his approach hadn't been deterred. Ren sprinted around, going for the armored man's throat. Nothing got close, as the Sword Hero was sent over his assailant. Motoyasu jumped over the tumbling comrade, charging for a thrust of his own. He got close, but was hit with green electricity which sent him flying back as well. Dr. Doom was at the king's staircase now.

Itsuki sent three arrows at Doom, one missed of its own accord, but the other two were blocked by the shield, effortlessly bouncing off his defense and tapping on the ground before dispersing into light.

Another step was taken and both the Spear Hero and Sword Hero attempted to jump into a strike. Victor turned enough so his right hand pointed at the boys. His concussive blast sounded, sending them both higher into the air than they bargained for. Another step was taken before the boys landed on the ground with a thud.

Another step was taken so the metal mask met the face of a cowardly king. He was behind his throne now, huddling and holding his crown.

With a hand rising, the king began to rise with it. He began to move towards the man upon his throne not of his own accord. Narrowed green eyes were highlighted on the king, "Anything you have to say to Victor Von Doom before your swift demise?"

The king frantically scraped at his neck, coughing at the invisible hand at his throat.

"I thought not." Doom was seconds away from claiming victory, he only had to clench his hand slightly to crush his windpipe. His upper spine would fold and puncture through flesh, drowning him in blood.

A tug on his cape caused him to turn around, stretching his left hand to meet whatever disturbed him. His eyes widened at the sight of a young girl with blue eyes and blue hair. Her eyes were clouded by tears and her hands were clasped on the cloth.

"P-please! Don't hurt him, Shield Hero. I d-don't want him to die…" She spoke through trembling lips.

Doom didn't turn away from the girl, but his eyes now calmed to their normal brown shade. He released the king, dropping him to his knees. He gave his full attention do the girl.

Behind the girl, Motoyasu yelled, "Doom, you don't touch the girl or we'll have your head!"

The girl in blue turned around, "No! Stop this, stop the fighting!" She turned back to Victor, "Please, mister Doom. I know my father is an idiot, he should have never disrespected you as he has done. On behalf of him and my sister, I apologize to you."

She knelt down, bowing her head, "Spare him, please."

_This girl is the second daughter? _Victor knelt down as well, placing a hand on her shoulder, "The damage to my name has already been done, Melty Melromarc. Your father, the king, must be punished for such depravities."

She jerked her head up, "I know, and I agree, but that is for the queen, my mother, to decide. Please, let my family handle this." She stood, placing a hand on her chest, "As the heir to the Melromarc throne, I promise you both father and sister will face consequences for scheming against you, Shield Hero."

Victor stood himself, his cold stare looking into the girl's eyes. She stood tall, unfazed.

Victor began marching away from the throne, "For your sake, Melty Melromarc, you had better be a woman of your word. I trust my name will be brought back up to its normal status?"

She smiled, lowering her head with a sigh of relief, "Sadly, sir Doom, the rumors spread around town are already fixed. It shall be publically declared that you are innocent of the crime you have been accused of."

"That will be adequate for now," the armored man turned back, looking back at the girl as he opened the doors to exit the throne room, "Keep these fools in check, Melty. They can be at least a little clever sometimes."

He left the throne room, leaving the three defeated Cardinal Heroes with the king and two princesses. Melty Melromarc the only one among them to resolve the situation.

She smiled again with a nod, "You have my word, Victor Von Doom."

**City Streets**

Doom found himself lost in this world now. He was powerless going against the absence of knowledge. Of course, there were plenty of landmarks he discovered along his following the traitorous minx, but it would only lead him to three places he visited, out of town, an inn and Erhard's shop.

None of this would help his current situation. What was his goal at this point anyways? Wait for the Waves of Calamity to finally come about and to wipe them out as swiftly as he could?

_What a bore to wait, there must be something Doom can do in this world to occupy my time. _He lifted his shield, opening his projected menu by tapping the green gem in the middle.

_Lvl. 1_

"I should make this shield an equal to my own power, at least then it will be less of a nuisance and more of an adequate tool." He looked around to where he was, an alley shrouded by the shadows of the buildings above. "I suppose I should leave town on that end, nothing is here that can help me become stronger as fast as I desire it."

"So, you wanna be stronger, eh?"

Doom turned to the stranger with a voice that sounded more akin to a cackle. He was met with a short, fat man with a grin plastered on his face below a small, black mustache. He wore a top hat with a white stripe wrapped around the bottom of the base. His golden glasses obscured his eyes from Victor. With a red bowtie between pink feathers sewed to his suit's collar.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Beloukas, and I think I may just have a solution to your issue, Victor Von Doom."

"You know of me."

"Sounded like you almost expect people to know who you are," he chuckled, "I suppose you got a good reason to. The Shield Hero in armor that puts even the best blacksmith's armor to shame going one-on-one with the Spear Hero, and winning without breaking a sweat. That's the most recent rumor that's been going around, with a bit of collateral damage to prove it."

Doom turned his back to the man, his cape shuffling behind him, "If you have no reason to speak with me, I would warn you to mind your tongue, peasant."

"Ah, a man of immediate action, I respect that very much." The shorter man began playing with his mustache, "You see, I know of your betrayal by the hands of that rich skank at the castle. Malitsy was her name?" He tapped his cane on the ground, "As it so happens, I'm offering you a subordinate that physically cannot betray you and are willed to follow their master's orders!"

"A slave is what you speak of, yes?"

"Well, I prefer the term servant." He finally did cackle, "But yes, that's what I'm offering. Want to see my merchandise?"

**Slums**

**Slave Tent**

The red and white tent was quite large, and it was clear from the noise that the slaver had plenty of 'merchandise' to choose from. That he did.

Immediately as he walked in, he could smell the stench of ammonia and methane that commonly would be found within the waste of living things. On top of that, his ears were flooded by the yells and screeches of animals and monsters that wished for any opportunity to escape their prisons. As they walked through the tent, Victor observed the creatures in their involuntary homes.

Some of the prisoners were more akin to some of the common animals he would expect to find in his own world. A hawk creature attempted to claw at the two men before backtracking to the center of the cage. Another that looked like a baboon with four arms and shelled hands that shaped its fingers more like claws yelled at the two, getting saliva on Doom's tunic.

"Sorry about that one," Beloukas pulled out a whip and waved it towards the monkey. It cracked inside the cage and the animal fell on its back, a new scar made on its face, "He's always making a mess of things." The round man handed Victor a soft cloth, which he happily took to wipe off the mess. "Over here is the monsters you'd be better off having at your side. More disciplined and powerful enough to take on some of the worst threats you could possibly face outside of those Waves."

As the two moved through, Victor saw one cage that seemed out of place to him, a cage where a little girl with light brown, almost orange hair, sat in nothing but patchy rags. She didn't seem to acknowledge him or anything for that matter really. Her lips were chapped and she seemed to shake as if she were cold.

Beloukas turned around and Victor turned his attention to the man, "This here might be the closest thing to your standard of power. Level 75! Though, obviously it couldn't ever measure up to you yourself, I've heard the stories."

Within the cage was what looked like a grey werewolf in its monstrous state. Victor Von Doom was familiar with such creatures, but it was obvious this wasn't one of them. It touted an exhale, which appeared as steam as if it were winter and its yellow, sharp eyes zeroed in on the armored man.

The ruler of Latveria placed his hands behind his back, inspecting the creature. "What is the price you're asking for this slave?"

He grinned, playing with his mustache before answering, "Fifteen gold pieces is what I'm offering for this beast right here!"

"Unfortunately, that price isn't within budget, slaver."

He laughed, "Indeed, I didn't show you this monster with the expectation of selling it, at least not at the moment. In the future, however, this could be a great investment for you once you start earning some of that hero money."

"I'm not interested in your marketing strategies."

"Then perhaps you could inform me about what you're looking for in a slave," he tapped the cane on the ground, "Help me help you! That's one of those sayings, right?"

Victor turned back around, walking towards the cage with the girl. As he reached the cage, he bent down to catch the girl's eyes with his own.

The trader nodded, "The demi-human, eh? Gotta say, there's not much hope in that one. She's caught something it seems, and I just can't be bothered to get her back to health." He lowered his gaze on the armor-clad man, "Not like those things are too good in combat or labor in the first place. You'd be much better off with something else, something more expensive and something that won't die in the next two weeks."

Dr. Doom paid him no mind. Instead, his attention was turned to the demi-human. "Raise your head to me, girl."

The girl managed to raise her head and finally returned his glare with her own desperate glance. Once her eyes met his, she flinched and hugged her chest.

"Not to mention her last owner, who had a soft spot for torture. Even if it isn't this one, there are other demi-humans I have to-."

"I'll take the girl."

"E-excuse me, I think I misheard you."

Doom stood, turning his glare over to the trader, "Doom's decision is made, do not make me repeat myself again!"

He turned back to the girl, whose eyes widened in fear as she stepped away from the opening to the cage. He began his march towards the entrance of the tent, awaiting the slaver to prepare the girl to be turned over to him.

The trader took a few minutes to return to the entrance, dragging the girl behind him. He threw the girl in front of him, making her land on the ground with a thump. Dust began to rise from the ground and dissipated as quickly as it started.

The round man held up a finger to his customer, "Just one more thing before we go, the insurance that the girl won't defy you like that redhead you butted with earlier." He walked over to a table, which put a suitcase on a pedestal. From it, he took out three items, a brush, an unknown liquid and a small bowl.

He poured the substance into the bowl and picked up the brush with his right hand, the bowl with his left, then stalked to the girl once more. He cleared his throat, "Get up, girl, we have a deal to seal!"

She resisted, hugging her chest once more. He turned to his customer, "See what I mean, trouble."

"Not an issue," Victor raised his right hand, and with it the girl's head lifted until she was on her knees.

The trader grinned as he turned back, "So that's what makes you so strong. No wonder!"

He drew on the girl's chest a drawing with strange markings. Once the drawing was complete, the trader reflexively pulled his hand back and the seal began to glow a blue flame. She recoiled in pain, attempting to hug her chest only to be singed by the pyre further.

The slaver's grin never seemed to leave his face as he turned to Dr. Doom, "You, fine sir, are now a bonafide slave master. Enjoy your demi-human however you see fit!"

He lifted his head, gazing at the menu that appeared before his face.

_Contract_

_Acquired Slave A._

The next set of menus appeared before him, which showed her statuses and that showed her mark as his companion. Victor picked up a pouch from the belt above his tunic, then turned to the trader.

"How much is owed?"

"Just a mere thirty silver for the girl, sir. Another single silver for the seal, of course."

He fished the currency, then tossed the coins to him, which the man immediately began counting. The money would be there. His attention was on the girl in rags. He marched forward, looking down to the girl.

"What is your name?"

The girl turned away, hugging her chest yet again.

"I demand you to tell me your name, demi-human!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, then spoke softly, "R-Rapht…"

"Speak so your master can hear you, girl!" Doom responded, before her seal flared up and sent an apparent electrical wave through her body.

She screamed, tears forming in her eyes, "R-RAPHTA-A-ALIA!" The electricity died and her scream turned into something between a groan a whimper and a sob.

He walked forward once more, towering over her as he stood next to her laying sitting being. She looked up at the metal mask over his face, "Feel blessed, Raphtalia. You are now in the proud graces of your master, Dr. Victor Von Doom!"

He narrowed his gaze once more, his eyes glowing green and steaming from the energy, "Serve me well, or perish."


	4. Chapter 4

Immediately as the two left the slaver's tent, Raphtalia was being dragged by this man, Victor Von Doom, into the city.

The girl was outright terrified of this man. His voice boomed every time he talked, and even sounded like it echoed through his scary helmet. His eyes seemed to peer right into her soul, staring down every thought running through her head.

Those thoughts were probably the scariest things about this man. Would he torture her with that power he had, the one that forced her body to move in ways she refused to? Would he be like the last scary man, lashing and beating her until her tear ducts were dried?

_No, he will be worse, much worse than I can even imagine! The way he looked at me was pure evil. It was the look of a man that knew ways to hurt the mind itself. _Tears began rolling down Raphtalia cheeks thinking about it all. _I don't want to be hurt anymore, I don't want to be hit or stuck in a cage anymore… I don't want it!_

When she finally opened her eyes, they were in front of a shop. The man in armor, Victor Von Doom, opened the door and a bell rang above them. She was ushered inside ahead of him.

They were greeted by another man's voice, "Hey, Shield Hero! You're actually back from the castle?" the man ahead of them both had a warm smile across the face. He had two scars, one on the right side of his head and the other on the left side of his head and a larger build. "I was sure you were going to be stuck in some prison cell for the rest of your life for how you destroyed that bit of town."

_Wait, did that man just say Shield Hero? _The girl looked at her master, who only lowered his gaze at the clerk. She looked at his left hand, and sure enough the only weapon she saw on him was a shield.

"Doom, bested by a few measly men with sticks attached to their hands?" His voice made Raphtalia jump, but he didn't seem to realize she jumped, "You insult me again and I will strike you where you stand, Erhard."

The man at the counter laughed as her new master began marching forward. She reluctantly followed.

The man at the counter, however pointed to her, "So, who's this girl now?"

"Her personal information is yours to know naught of, blacksmith. All I need from you is a respectable set of clothes and a dagger for her person." The armored man declared.

Erhard nodded, putting his hands up, "Yeah, I understand. Give me a second." He left the clerk desk, pointing a thumb against the wall, "I have something that'll probably do the trick just fine for the lovely lady."

He left the front of the store and returned just a few seconds later with a fresh set of clothes. He crouched down, frowning at her torso then pointed towards a section of the store.

"Go behind those curtains and get yourself out of those rags, hon." The man explained with a smile on his face.

The girl looked at her master, who simply crossed his arms. So, she followed the clerk's instructions.

As she turned the curtain for privacy, she could hear one last remark from the clerk, "So, you actually bought a slave…"

She slipped on the clothes, which consisted of a long sleeve grey undershirt, a black and red dress with a gap leading down her torso. She walked out of the fitting room, meeting the eyes of the two men.

The shopkeeper nodded, "What did I say? Perfect!" He turned to her master, "Don't you think so."

He nodded, uncrossing his arms, "She looks more adequate to be travelling with someone of my statue."

Erhard waved her over, grabbing something off the desk and handed it to Raphtalia. When she held it in her hands, she looked down to see it was a knife holstered in a sheath connected to a strap. From the corner of her eye, she could see her master move towards her. She jumped as he took the strap and placed it over her shoulder. The blade rested on her left side, ready for her to reach for it at a moment's notice.

"Excellent, this weapon will do fine for now. How much do I owe you?" Her master asked, attention at the man called Erhard.

The shopkeeper crossed his arms as he returned behind the counter, "Six silver. The clothes are complimentary. I wouldn't feel right making you pay for her to have some warm clothes,"

"Your charity is not necessary," Doom began, reaching for his pouch and placing what Raphtalia counted was eight silver coins, "But the sentiment is appreciated. We will probably come in again in the future for a better weapon on her part."

Erhard gave the two of them a smile, "Happy to hear it, I'll be expecting you."

As Doom began to pace towards the exit, Erhard waved to Raphtalia, who waved shyly back before following her master to the exit and into the city streets.

The two continued through the city, a similar pace they walked before the shop. The difference this time being that the demi-human walked by herself. All the girl could do was look at the shield, remembering what her family had told her about the Shield Hero.

_Mom and dad…_

Her thoughts were swiftly brought to an end when her master turned to her, "Have you eaten today, little one?"

She was caught off guard by the question. Unable to figure out what to answer him, he changed directions.

"Then, we will have dinner."

"D-dinner? But, I'm not hung-." Her stomach betrayed her. It groaned and twisted, alerting her master about the truth. "Y-you don't have to worry about me, sir. I-I'll be okay."

"Nonsense!" He exclaimed, walking across the street to a building with an aroma that was enough to make Raphtalia's mouth drool five times over! Her master stopped at the door, turning to her, "You have pledged your loyalty to Doom. In doing so, it is my responsibility to ensure all of your needs are met. In return, you do as I say without question."

The man marched into the diner, taking no notice of the sign that read plainly:

_NO DEMI-HUMANS ALLOWED_

**Doom**

As he stepped into the restaurant, he immediately noticed select individuals staring him down. He stood proudly, however, scanning the place for an empty table to sit at.

An employee met him with a smile, "Hello, sir, how many…" He looked down at the Shield Hero's slave, "Oh…"

Dr. Doom stepped forward, glaring at the man who greeted him, "Is there an issue you have with my companion?"

The employee stepped back, leaning against the bar to gain as much distance from the towering, metal man as he could, "N-no, no problem at all! Just take your seat and someone will take your orders immediately, Shield Hero, sir!"

"That's to be expected." Victor took his leave from the man, moving towards his eyed table and taking his seat on the side of the table farthest from the door.

Raphtalia took her seat in front of him. She sat low in her seat, looking at the table.

A waiter was immediately at their table, "H-hello, sir. May I take your order?"

Doom paid him no mind. Instead he tapped the table in front of the girl. She jumped, looking up at the man in front of her. "Sit up straight, girl. You will represent the name of Victor Von Doom proudly!" He laid a menu in front of her, "Have the server take your order so you may eat."

The girl sat up straight, looking down at the menu, "A-are you sure its okay for me to-?"

With a sigh, Victor peered behind the girl where a boy was happily enjoying a meal with his parents. He didn't look at the waiter as he took the menu from Raphtalia, "She will have what the boy at the other table is eating. I will have the roasted boar with red wine." He placed the menu in the waiter's hand, "Ensure the meat is seared perfectly, or I will have _you_ set to the flames!"

"Y-yes, sir! Excellent, sir!" The server ran towards the kitchen.

Victor looked up, closing his eyes, "That is closer to my standard."

The armored man decided to pull out a map he had just gotten. He found the city he and his subordinate were in, turned the map around and placed a metal finger on the outskirts of the city. The girl sat at attention.

"Our plan for the rest of today will be to survey the forests and practice on lowly pests." He pointed to the knife at her side, "You must learn to use that blade, otherwise your life shall be deemed worthless to my endeavors." He pulled the map back, sliding it into one of his pouches off the side of his belt, "Is this understood, Raphtalia?"

She nodded just as their plates reached the table. The girl awed at the food that sat in front of her. Doom looked at his own plate and his wine.

The waiter hugged the tray in his hands, "I-is everything in order for you, sire?"

"Have I eaten it yet?"

"Huh?"

Doom slammed his hand on the table, causing the wine to splash. The slave and the server alike jumped as Doom scowled at the server, "I will partake in this meal and tell you if it is adequate! Do _not _badger Doom!" He waved the server away and he scrambled away, taking refuge in the kitchen.

Victor took hold of the wine, pulled the glass just above his mouth and inhaled the aroma of the wine. He knew right away, this was going to be a bland meal. When he opened his eyes, he looked to the girl, who had yet to touch her food.

"Is something the matter?"

She held the side of the table, hanging her head low, "C-can I really eat this?"

"Did I not use my limited pittance to supply this luxury to you?" He grabbed the small spork that fell of the plate, pointing the handle end towards the girl, "Soon, we will be able to house cuisines that would make the gods envy us!"

The girl hesitantly took the spork, then took a bite of the large pile of rice atop the plate. Her eyes widened and she began to scarf the sad excuse for a meal down. This would be a meal Doom would not partake in.

After the girl had eaten and an employee was smacked across a room, the two ventured off into the forest to hunt the balloons that Victor had been introduced to before. When they encountered their first group, he placed a hand on Raphtalia's shoulder and pulled out the knife, placing it in her hands.

He pointed to a brown balloon that weaved through bushes and around the trees, "You will kill that one first, girl. Understood?"

She held the knife awkwardly, looking up at Doom. "B-but how, master? They're too fast for me to hit!"

He shook his head, "I disagree with your assessment. Perhaps you need to take your first kill before you feel up to the hunt?"

Victor stood tall once again, stretching his shield-free hand towards the balloon he pointed out. With very little effort exerted, he took hold of the balloon with his mind and it was forced to sit still. He brought the balloon closer, taking hold of it from behind its head before taking a few steps in front of the girl. He crouched facing her, lifting the balloon in her direction.

"This is your initiation, Raphtalia. You will kill this balloon and prove yourself worthy of being at my side!" He squeezed the balloon hard enough to force it to squeal.

She looked down at the blade, hands beginning to shake. She looked back up at Doom, shaking her head, "N-no, I can't do this."

"I order you, as my slave, kill this pathetic waste of life now!"

Her chest began to spark, causing her to recoil in pain. Doom remained unmoved from his spot.

"Refusing my orders will only result in your demise! Do as Doom commands, slave, as it is my will!"

The girl hesitated, but did rise from her knees. Blade in hand, she stared back at the balloon, which writhed around throwing saliva to the ground in various directions. She was shaking, her eyes were wide and filled with tears; fear was instilled in her.

Yet, she cried out with ferocity.

Yet, she charged forward, the handle's end close to her chest.

Yet, she stabbed the rubber creature, which cried in pain and popped like its namesake entailed.

Victor gave a single chuckle as he stood, looking at the EXP they had gained.

_+12 EXP_

"So that is the trick, interesting. This world may just work in Doom's favor…"

Raphtalia stared up at him, tears formed in her eyes. Though she was no longer shaking. Much like a father teaching his son how to shoot a deer for the first time, killing the game and skinning the hide, she found herself with a newly bred hardiness. She had it in her to be a warrior for Doom, if he had any say in it!

So, the two ventured deeper into the forest, and for the rest of the day, through to sunset, they hunted the pitiful creatures and gained more EXP to grow stronger and upgrade the dreaded shield bound to either arm of Victor.

It wasn't until the Sun had drifted past the horizon and the Moon took its place in the visible cosmos that the two laid camp, ready to turn in for a night's rest. Usually, Victor would simply turn in at town; relax in the luxury of an inn. Though their money was limited, the two had enough for about four more nights in an inn of his liking. There was one point of business that he had to take care of first.

The girl sat in front of the campfire, taking a bite of the fish that had been cooked over the flames. She tried to hide her coughing fits throughout the day, which had no true affect other than making her sound worse than she was.

He peered around the campsite before laying eyes on a plant. It was a leaf that stuck out of the ground, with no vines or tree to originate from. He looked down at his shield, and then looked back at the plant.

_Perhaps that works as well… _He stood from his seat, causing Raphtalia to stare at his with wide eyes.

He stalked towards the plant, crouching down and began to caress its base before picking it off the stem. He raised the leaf over his shield and dropped it. The shield began to glow from the gem in the center of the shield! The leaf disintegrated and prompted a screen to appear over the shield.

_NEW SHIELD UNLOCKED_

_Leaf Shield Acquired_

Doom went through the menus, equipping the shield, which was actually shaped like a leaf. He opened the effect of the shield, which simply stated: _Advanced Homeopathy._

The armored man began to collect more plants from around the camp and got to work with his alchemy. Once he returned to the campfire, he grabbed a pot and placed his ingredients in the pot, then used his telekinesis to grab hold of water from the river. He placed the water in the pot and began to crush and stir the contents of the pot. It didn't take much longer than three minutes before the concoction was made, a medicine that would treat many illnesses.

_This is not unlike my efforts in Latveria. _He sighed, folding a few leaves into a makeshift cup and scooping a moderate quantity of the liquid. _By now, one of my body doubles has taken my role as ruler. One of my precautions for situations such as this._

He outstretched his arm towards Raphtalia, who took the drink. She took a sniff of the drink reflexively recoiled.

"I-It smells terrible!" She stuck her tongue out, keeping the drink far away from her, "What is it?"

"It is medicine, as you are sick." Victor stared down the girl, pointing to the potion, "If you do not voluntarily drink it, I will force it into your belly! Without it, you will die within a week's time."

She hesitated, but did eventually take a swig of the creation. She attempted to stop midway through, but Victor took hold of her actions. He opened her mouth and forced her hand to tilt back, the drink making its way down into her throat. Her eyes widened, then she recoiled again as soon as she gained her motor functions back. She screamed, falling on her back and holding her neck as she voiced about how it was poison rather than a cure. She eventually got over the medicine's taste and looked up at Victor with a frown on her face, puffed cheeks and a tear in her eye.

Victor grinned behind his metal mask. This quickly faded as he grounded himself once again on the fact they had made virtually made no progress to becoming stronger as a force. He pulled from a pouch the map from earlier. He viewed the land, trying to make sense of everything.

Raphtalia leaned closer and looked up at her master. "Who are you, master?" He looked up from the map, an eyebrow raised, though she could not see it through the mask, "I-I mean, who are you really? The man at the store said you were the Shield Hero, which means you came from somewhere else, right?" She tried to give him a smile.

His head raised, eyes closed. "Ah, who am I? I suppose you should know, after all you will be serving under me." He opened his eyes on the girl, then nodded, "My name is Doctor Victor Von Doom, though you may refer to me as Dr. Doom. I come from another world, as you have said. My world was similar to this world in some ways, except on a larger scale." He looked up to the Moon, which had notably different crater patterns than the Moon he was accustomed to. "In my world, I was the ruler of a country called Latveria. I was a foreigner to the land when I arrived, when it was a feather's weight from collapsing upon itself. When I overthrew the king before me, I immediately took action in ruling with absolute authority!" He raised his fist.

The girl's eyes were wide, leaning forward, "S-so, you were a leader of a country? What happened to Latveria after that?"

"Why not see for yourself?" He placed his shield on his right hand and tapped a spot on his left hand, the home of a durable and secret internal computer system accessible only to Doom. Through his wrist, a digital projection emerged showing the latest daily status report from his drones before he was forced from his nation. His country was in the midst of the celebration, Doomsday, where the people were laughing freely, eating to their hearts content and enjoying festivities!

The slave girl leaned forward, placing a large smile on her face. "That looks like so much fun! It looks like such a nice kingdom!"

He nodded, "Indeed. Singlehandedly, Doom turned a primitive country into a utopian superpower of the world! One where no person feared going without food, shelter, and had naught to concern themselves with criminals. It was truly paradise incarnate!"

She looked up at him, a sparkle in her eyes, "That's amazing!" She pointed to the castle in the picture, "So, you and your parents live in that castle, right? Maybe even your wife?"

He paused, his eyes meeting hers. "Sadly, that is not the case. My mother and father died long ago, and I have no bride to speak of."

She stared back, her hand moving towards her mouth. She looked down, "I-I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean to be so mean…"

"It is quite alright, child." She looked up, the man in armor staring into the stars, "There was no way you could have known. It is an innocent question, after all."

Raphtalia held her hands to her chest, looking up at this man, who was so much more powerful than even the stories could have ever guessed. She leaned forward, a smile on her face, "T-then that makes you just like me!"

He looked down once again at his subordinate.

She continued, "My parents, they died too just a few months ago." She began shaking, gripping the end of her dress, "They were killed by a monster during a Wave. They were hurt and couldn't fight it if they wanted to, but they saved me. They pushed me into the water and then…" Her voice was shaking as well, "Then…"

Victor placed a hand on her shoulder, crouching next to her. "You don't have to explain further, Raphtalia." He unpinned his cape from the rest of his tunic, wrapping it around the girl as tears fled from her eyes. "You may want to get some rest, I will stay up and be on watch and strategize our next moves. We need to find some place to build an army for those very Waves of Calamity that took your parents from you."

She looked up, eyes wide, "A-an army?"

"Yes," He stood, placing his hands behind his back, "Doom never goes to war without some form of army at his back, these Waves are no exception to this."

She looked down then back at the Shield Hero, "Then, we should go to Siltvelt!"

"Siltvelt? That nation is farther than some of the other nations." He crossed his arms, "What should we expect to gain from this kingdom?"

She leaned towards the armored man, "Well, because all of the people from that land love the Shield Hero as much as people here love the other heroes." She retracted and began twiddling with her thumbs, "Of course, it is a long way away, I'm not sure how we would get there. I've never seen it myself, it was just where my parents were from. It might not be like how I remember them saying it was either."

Victor nodded, "I order you to get some rest now, Raphtalia."

She nodded, moving to the softer ground and pulling her master's large cape over her body.

The man chuckled, turning around to gaze at the Moon. Arms still crossed, he made up his mind, _Tomorrow, build the army of Doom…_

" …In Siltvelt!"


	5. Chapter 5

_**Man, really appreciating the reviews I'm getting from you guys! There are a few things I want to bring up, however, just so no one that's lore crazy about Rising of the Shield Hero get angry if I get something wrong. I'm actually basing this off the anime, not the web novels nor the light novels. Because of that, I'm going to be forced to make some things up as I go as even the Wikias don't mention ANYTHING about the person who controls the monarchy in Siltvelt. However, I have my own ideas through the Wikias about how the city should look and act. I will be forced to create new characters for the ruler of Siltvelt, for example. However, there is a retired General in the Wikias that goes by Genmu, which I may or may not use.**_

_**As for the people showing their support for how I'm representing Dr. Doom, I really appreciate you guys. Victor is one of my more favorite villains in comics in general. He has so many layers to him and has proven that he is more than just a snobby asshole, though he is still a snob at times. I'm trying to stick to the 616 as close as I can for his capabilities.**_

_**Overall, this has been really fun and interesting thinking through this story and you all have been giving me plenty of ideas to toy with as well in your reviews! I don't want to take up too much more time so I'll let the story continue for now.**_

* * *

The girl had awoken from her sleep in a screaming frenzy, holding her hands out and. From what Doom could gather she was reliving the burden of her parent's deaths. Victor was beside her already, keeping watch as he promised he would. He waited for her to cease waving her hands around in front of her person before he placed a hand on her head. Her salmon eyes opened, glassy from her sleep.

She looked up at her master whose eyes stared into the forest. She closed her eyes again and she fell towards him, falling asleep once again on his tunic. He closed his eyes, leaning his head downward and opening them to his servant.

"I, too, know what it is like to be powerless." He stroked her orange hair before placing her back on the ground and covering her in the green cape. "You will learn to use this pain to grow stronger, Raphtalia. Power is just within your clutches."

She lay with calmness, nestling her head into the cloth beneath her.

* * *

The Sun finally came and Raphtalia pushed herself off the ground with one hand. Her other hand managed to find its way to her eyes as if to rub the drowsiness from them.

"You've finally woken up, have you?" Her master asked, standing just a few feet from the campfire which was now as cold as the morning air around them. "Gather yourself swiftly, we are to leave in a few minutes."

The girl nodded, picking herself off the ground and picked up the green cape. She started to brush it off before her master grabbed it out of her hands. He waved his shield bearing hand over the cape and a sudden wave of air gusted through, clearing the cloth of all the dust it contracted. He spun the cape around, reattaching it to his person. Dr. Doom turned around, arms crossed toward the river.

"Meet me at the bedside of the water in five minutes. If you're late, you will be punished."

"Y-yes, Doctor Doom!" She stood at attention before taking her leave towards the woods to relieve herself. She ran back to him once she finished, making sure the knife was at her side and secure as she sprinted. She placed her hands behind her back before looking up to him, "So, where are we going?"

Doom crossed his arms, looking down at her, "You should know yourself, you were the one that suggested it, Raphtalia."

She stepped back, arms falling behind her, "Y-you liked my idea?"

He nodded, "The only way to raise an army is to be around those that either fear or respect you. Preferably both. However, Melromarc does neither in the face of true power, so our best option is to travel to the land that has the most respect for the Shield Hero." He released his gaze from her and placed a hand on her head, "Siltvelt, from your recollection, praises the Shield Hero. I doubt their convictions would change in even a single generation. So, today we will venture forth and demand they help us."

Her eyes gleamed and wide smile stretched across her face. This, however, was almost immediately exchanged by a brood, "That's a long way away, though. It will take us weeks to get there on foot like this."

The slave owner began to chuckle before he turned to the girl and waved the hand farthest from her which caused her to levitate from the ground. Her eyes opened widely as she kicked her feet back and forth with a yelp.

"Doom does not travel on the same ground as mere peasants!" With that said, he began to levitate himself. With another thrust of his hand, the two accelerated above the treetops and continued into the air.

"Y-you can fly, too master?" She exclaimed, reaching towards him and grabbing hold of his tunic to pull herself closer, "What else can you do?"

He ignored her question, and instead the two began to accelerate forward through his sheer will. Raphtalia and Victor Von Doom would soon be traveling at a speed that was slow for the armored foreigner, but plenty fast for the girl and fast enough to reach the country within mere hours.

**Unkown Location**

**Faubley**

A woman in an extravagant purple dress sat in the center of a clean, vibrant white room. Her eyes were closed and her hand was clasped over a cup with tea in hand. She raised that very hand to take a sip of the tea, which was exquisitely brewed to her preferences. As she finished the drink, she heard a slight creak come from one of the floorboards behind her.

She smiled without turning towards the intruder, "I presume the king has, in fact, summoned the Cardinal Heroes?"

The figure behind her, who was covered in black clothes and had a faceguard made of steel, knelt to the woman. "Yes, Queen Melromarc."

She frowned, setting her tea down, "The rest of the kingdoms will not be happy to hear this news. To summon the Cardinal Heroes without even _informing _the councils of-!" She stopped herself, standing up and placing her tea on a counter in front of her. She turned back to the footsoldier, "Have they had a warm welcome, at the very least?"

The shadowed figure lowered their head, "All but the Shield Hero. Though, the hero retaliated against the king."

The queen raised an eyebrow. "Retaliated? If you're here to tell me the Shield Hero has been executed-."

The figure shook their head, "No, my queen. The man, his name declared as Victor Von Doom, has proven that he is much more powerful than any hero we've summoned before." The person almost seemed to chuckle before they continued, "In fact, when he fought the other heroes he was only at level one. The rest had all leveled up at least once by then. Yet, any attempt to attack him failed to even get close enough for him to need to block."

"What of the king?" She started, her frown now for the concern of her idiot husband, "Did the Shield Hero kill him?"

The figure again shook their head, "Your youngest daughter was able to convince the man to leave him alive for now, at least."

The queen sighed of relief, pressing her hand against her chest to calm her own heartbeat. Then she turned to the figure once more, "So, where is the Shield Hero now?"

"According to a scout, he was last seen camping out in a forest with a demi-human girl hours ago." The person lowered their head, "However, I've become skeptical of said scout."

"Skeptical? How so?"

"Ma'am," the soldier tilted their head back to meet the Queen's eyes, "they said he began to fly across the sky like a bird with this girl."

**In the Castle**

**Siltvelt**

The man and the slave girl stood in the foyer of Siltvelt's castle. In front of them stood a man that had features of a lizard, but otherwise resembled a noble of even Melromarc. His skin was replaced with brown scales that travelled all over his body. His eyes were nothing more than holes which punctured the sides of his head and his He scowled at the two, primarily Victor.

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" He asked coldly, walking towards them both with a book and quill.

"It is simple, really." Victor placed his free hand behind his back while left shield-wielding hand lifted upwards, "The Shield Hero requests an audience with your king!"

The man scoffed, "Shield Hero? Impossible, we weren't notified of the summoning of the Cardinal Heroes." The man placed a hand on his chin, burrowing his eyebrows, "However, that racist king in Melromarc seems like just the kind of person that would break the rules to get the upper hand."

"Indeed, he is a despicable man." Victor stretched an open palm towards the noble, "I am sorry to say that your suspicions are more than likely true, as the queen of Melromarc is away on business and here I am with the Legendary Shield. The royal fool made the mistake of insulting me as I was summoned from my home, and now I am here to seek allies that have any ounce of common sense!" Victor crossed his arms, raising his head to the noble, "I can already tell from your speculation that you are more than qualified to meet that requirement. So, allow me to purge your critical eye by proving to you that I am, in fact, the Shield Hero."

The armored man brought his shield up from his arm so the man in front of him could plainly see the evidence. He imagined the shield from before, the one he unlocked from absorbing the leaf. The plate bonded to his forearm began to glow a pure white, the green orb in the middle the only detail that remained, before changing from the original shape to the shape of a simple leaf. Once the shape was formed, the glow began to die. What was once a grey, metal shield was now a vibrant green leaf bonded to his arm.

Victor brought the new shield up so his face was parallel with the item. "So, you see, the Shield Hero I am."

The lizard man's eyes were now wide, his mouth slightly ajar. He glanced at Victor's steady eyes before quickly composing himself. He cleared his throat, "Y-yes, I see that you are, in fact, the Shield Hero. Unfortunately," he opened his eyes with a smile, "the king is dealing with his governmental duties as of this moment. So, he cannot see anyone right now."

The metal arms crossed as Doom practically looked down on the reptilian, "Is he a new king?"

"A-a new king, Shield Hero?"

"For only a king newly born into his power could let a country such as this be brought into such despair!" Victor turned to the entrance of the castle, "As I marched up the steps to the castle, I had gotten a view of the citizens and their current situations. Children roamed the streets, begging for a small pittance for the chance to purchase measly bread to fill their feeble bellies." He turned back to the man, "Did I also perceive human slaves, within your kingdom?"

"Those are the lower sections of the kingdom you refer to, yes? They are what you might call the slums of the kingdom, we cannot help what those citizens do with themselves."

"I will speak to your king now."

Victor began to march past the man, heading towards a dimly lit brown hall filled with doors and consequently guards. The two that guarded the entrance, a cat demi-human and another reptilian that further resembled a lizard than the man he was speaking to, fitted in what looked like stone armor, lowered their weapons. Raphtalia huddled behind Victor, taking hold of his cape with a frown towards the demi-human and the beastman.

"What do you mean? The king has yet to summon you. You may be the Shield Hero, but you may not disrupt the flow of government!" He scowled at the armored intruder, "You may not see the king at this time."

"You misunderstand what I said earlier, fool." The guards ahead jumped before Victor turned to the man, eyes glowing the normal green energy, "Doom was not asking to see your king, it was a declaration that I would!"

**Melromarc**

**Two Weeks Later**

**King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII**

He sat upon his throne, back aching as he did so. His robes draped to the floor in front of him, swinging when any wind managed to catch it. He grumbled before turning to the windows to the right before the throne.

Before him was the royal advisor, who held a book in hand with a complimentary quill resting on his ear. The city chief guards were also present, as per their usual duties among training new soldiers, assigning specific patrols for the tasks presented here and the general of the military as well as the man in charge of training the royal guard, whose grey hair and scarred scowl exposed his experience.

"Where is the daily report?" It was a daily routine, sit on the throne in the morning, read a report of the previous 24 hours, assign tasks to city guards to fix any issues within the city, wait for the people to come in with their mostly insignificant requests. Occasionally, however, a nobleman would ask to join Aultcray for a glass of wine or to play him in a game of chess. The latter he despised.

The advisor, dressed in a brown coat with white fur trimmings, pulled out a scroll before summarizing the report for the king. "The northern most section of the city had a small scuffle with some children stealing fruit from a local vendor. The guards hunted them down, however and taught them a lesson." He continued on the list, "A farmer just outside the city limits has also thanked the royal family for clearing out balloon monsters which infested the fields of his property, saying, quote, 'I haven't been bitten on the rear by the pests in a two weeks.' Though, none of the guards remember killing many balloons."

"Any news on the heroes?"

The advisor nodded, "The three have separated their efforts across Melromarc. Rumor has it they have been vanquishing low level monsters for travelers and merchants as they venture into the world."

An annoyed sigh came from the king, knowing he had to ask such a question, "What of the accursed Shield?" He scowled towards the entrance, "Victor Von Doom is a thorn in my side and I would rather not be surprised if he attacks again."

The advisor shook his head, "His whereabouts are still unknown, at this time."

With a sigh, the king leaned his head back on the throne. _Damn that Shield Hero! First, he attempts to kill me and as soon as he walks out of the castle doors its as if he dropped off the face of the Earth! _Then, an epiphany came to the king, his eyes widening, _Perhaps, the armored nuisance had discovered how to return to his own world! He was certainly a capable man, it is very possible that he-!_

A crash sounded and glass sprinkled against the stone floor of the throne room. The king looked forward, the two military men already standing firm with swords drawn. Before the men was four, shiny entities. They were shaped almost like birds, but their wings did not flap. In fact, their wings had holes in them and hummed as they practically levitated! Their bodies were slim, and shaped as a box rather than a fluid creature. On their faces laid a simple green orb, staring at the king, unblinking.

The four flying things formed into a perfect square before shooting poles at each other, linking them together and creating a physical square. The poles began to shine on the side facing the poles opposite to one another, and an image cleared from them.

"W-what is the meaning of this?!"

Between the four birds, a clear depiction of a man in a familiar metal suit of armor and a green tunic sat upon a throne. Beside him was a demi-human, seemingly a teenager with orange hair tied behind her head. She wore a tan undershirt with a brown, leather vest covering her torso just enough to also show the top of her chest, where a slave crest was partially visible. Her pants were a simple grey, but also had a knife strapped to her side. On her side was a sword, sheathed, with a brown hilt and a green gem at the butt of the grip.

The Shield Hero sat leaned back on the throne, fingers touching their respective counterparts on his other hand. He practically scowled at through the projection at the king.

_"My name is Doctor Victor Von Doom, the Shield Hero, and this is a live broadcast spread across the continent for all to see. Plus, wherever it is the other Cardinal Heroes have found themselves at the moment."_

**Faubley**

The queen peered out of the window at the picture of a man in armor, whose scowl pierced through the screen. She turned to her shadow soldier with a smile on her face.

"It seems he has shown himself once again."

The man, Victor Von Doom, continued.

_"As I was forced into this world against my will, I was greeted with nothing but insults and schemes against my name. But, I showed mercy and gave the nation another chance. This will be the last time I do so."_

**Melromarc's Forests**

**Motoyasu Kitamura**

_No way, this guy got drones?! _He scowled at the projection in front of him, gritting his teeth. _Screw that! Why is _he _acting like a victim after the stunts he pulled!_

He gripped his spear tightly, "You bastard…"

_"As a result, I sought to become allies with a nearby kingdom, Siltvelt. Through my efforts, I have found myself the rightful ruler of this nation. As the dictator of the demi-humans, I will rule with absolute dominion."_

**Unkown Cave**

**Ren Amaki**

"He's a dictator now? He's gone too far this time…"

_"Already, this fine establishment has seen vast improvements. The crime has seized, children all have a home and food to eat, the technology is now beyond anything any world before this has seen and it continues to advance. In short, my domain is on its way to becoming the most powerful nation among the seven kingdoms."_

**Marshlands**

**Itsuki Kawasumi**

_No way, this can't be happening! I thought this was my chance to get away from the bastards that step on me… _Itsuki began to pull back his arrow, pointing it at the top right drone, "But there's another one right here!"

The arrow released, smashing straight through and into the green orb and sending the drone crashing into the ground. The image remained, though it was now partially hazy.

_"However," _the armored man raised his left arm so the plate of the Legendary Shield was visible, _"I will be returning to Melromarc in due time in order to link with its Dragon Hourglass, a detail the fool of a king failed to inform me of."_

**Siltvelt**

**Dr. Doom**

"Not even the threat of the Waves of Calamity will be enough to deter the might of Victor Von Doom!" He stood from his throne, the camera on the drone following his movements, "Doom will reign supreme, for it is my will!"

The drone discontinued the broadcast, and immediately the drones should have started on their way to returning to Siltvelt. With a deep breath he turned to Raphtalia, who sighed herself.

"I don't mean to criticize, but that seemed more like a declaration of war than anything else." She strolled towards her master, opening her eyes as she stood in front of him, "Or was that the point?"

"I will no longer bend my knee to royalty unbefitting of their positions, it had to be done." He crossed his arms, "I need not respect other nations when they are incompetent enough to only scrape the barrel of poverty through slaves."

Raphtalia nodded, walking beside him, "You know, being a slave isn't so bad if you have the right master to serve under."

"It still confounds me as to why you would wish to continue to have the slave crest after I offered to have it removed."

She smiled, looking back to her keeper, "It's just comforting is all, knowing I have a place at your side as we strive to make the world a better place." She looked towards the entrance of the throne room, "Besides, this crest is the reason I'm alive right now. If I just throw it away, how are you going to be sure I repay you for what you've done for me?"

He put his arms behind himself, looking back at the throne. "It is about time we venture into the forests once more. You still need to be stronger than you are now if you hope to help me vanquish the Waves of Calamity."

She bowed towards the metal man, "Yes, Dr. Doom."

She began marching down the throne room, hand on her hilt. Doom stood, looking at his new throne. He turned to his companion, a grin forming under his mask.

"This world, soon, will be Doom's for the taking."

* * *

_**AscendedHumanity: Thanks for catching that, guess I forgot to add the time skip. I've updated it to include it. I do agree that one or two weeks might be a bit far fetched for the nation to improve in its entirety but who knows if Doom is just bluffing a bit to intimidate his enemies. He is a manipulator, after all ;)**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Erhard**

The sun had just risen over the horizon, and Erhard was getting ready for the usual day. He had already dusted off the clerk's desk and was in the middle of polishing all the weapons that looked like they needed it. The bald store owner sighed as he picked up a lance from the middle shelf. This was a routine at this point, and the mornings were usually the best times to do it as less people were looking for weapons so early in the morning. For him, it was the best moment to just sit down and take care of his wares.

Erhard marched towards the front desk, pulling a rag from his apron pocket and began wiping down the sword, being sure to rub off any fingerprints and smudges made by customers who were inspecting it. The grey metal shone in the candlelight, a monument to the blacksmith's efforts. Sometimes, it almost hurt to see the weapons he made be sold off to low level adventurers.

But when a noble with a lower clout than most comes into the store with bags full of coins, that made the pain practically vanish.

The bell to the store sang its tune, alerting Erhard and causing him to jerk his head up. He put on his usual smile he gave to customers, "Welcome! Don't mind me, I-." He finally got a good look at who it was coming into the store. "Well, I'll be! Didn't expect to see you again."

Erhard got up from his desk, meeting a glare from a man with a green cloak and tunic over a very impressively built suit of chrome armor which didn't seem to have so much as a smudge on it. On his left gauntlet was a shield, which compared to the armor was incredibly basic, but unmistakable to the blacksmith now.

Erhard couldn't help but chuckle, "That was a pretty amazing display you put on, Shield Hero. You really pissed the king off after your stunt!"

Behind the Shield Hero was a woman shorter than both him and Doom with pink eyes and orange hair and what appeared to be ears on the top of her head. She had a brown and red dress with a belt over her waist. She had an undershirt in the color of sand under the dress with brown gloves over her hands and forearms. Over her collar was a red ribbon tied in a bow. Over her legs were brown boots that stretched all the way up to her lower thighs.

"Raphtalia? Is that you?"

The woman smiled, bowing forward, "It's been a while, Erhard. How are you?"

He crossed his arms, cocking his head to the side, "Oh, things are going just fine here. Though I'm surprised you two even decided to come back in the first place."

Raphtalia lowered one eyebrow towards the blacksmith, though it was the scowling hero that replied, "Are you proposing that Dr. Victor Von Doom is not a man of his word?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Erhard shook his head for emphasis, "I'm just saying with how the whole kingdom will probably be after you. He put a bounty on your head for threatening the security of Melromarc and her citizens."

"You think the might of Doom would ever _consider _cowering amidst the laughable attempts of mere mercenaries or primitive guards with sticks? You insult me."

Erhard raised his hands in the air, "Alright, I see your point. I apologize for questioning your authority and abilities." Erhard smiled, leaning against the desk with his elbows, "But down to business. What brings you two here, anyhow?"

Raphtalia stepped forward, placing a busted up short sword on the desk, "We were hoping to purchase a new weapon for myself. This one is starting to lose its edge."

He looked up at her, a brow cocked, "You came to me for this? Aren't you guys rulers of a kingdom or something? You should have plenty of smiths there to make your weapons for you."

The demi-human smiled, nodding to the man, "We did promise to shop here again before we left, or have you already forgotten that?"

Erhard stared at her for a minute, then it clicked in his mind. He couldn't help but laugh. Once he got his composure, he nodded with a smile still on his face, "I guess you did! Well, if you see a weapon you like, go ahead and bring it to me. I'll be sure to give you guys the best price I can for it."

The woman began to look around the store and Doom walked towards the man himself. They both watched as the raccoon girl took her time to choose whichever item she liked the most. It didn't take long for the clerk to turn back to the Shield hero.

"I guess the rumor that demi-humans age with their levels is true, isn't it? You've got yourself quite the catch there, Doom." The blacksmith remarked.

The man in armor nodded, "Refrain from making profane remarks about my colleague, shopkeeper."

"My bad, my bad. I didn't mean anything by it. That isn't all you came here for though, is it? The new gear, I mean."

The large, armored man turned to Erhard, then back to his subordinate. "I need to know where the Dragon Hourglass is and sync with it. I know it's here in Melromarc, just not its location. I would rather not run in blind either."

He nodded, placing a gloved hand on his chin, "Oh, you didn't know? The Hourglass is in the center of town inside the church tower there." He turned to Doom, "Though, with your stunt with telling the whole nation that you were the superpower of the world, you might have more trouble than if it were just the Shield Hero."

"That is not a concern of mine, Erhard."

The blacksmith chuckled, "I wouldn't expect it to be coming from you."

Raphtalia returned to the front desk with a sheathed sword with a golden hilt. The trader noticed the sword immediately. She placed it on the counter, a smile on her face.

"I really liked the feel of this weapon! I think I'll take it."

A smiled formed on his face, "Ah, a magic-iron blade! Now that's a good eye you have there, those babies are as durable as they come and can cut down hundreds of monsters before becoming dull."

"Sounds like a deal! How much for it?"

"Gear like this would usually sell for a higher price." He rubbed his chin right above his beard, giving dramatic pause before he finished expressing the thought, "But, considering you two are saving the world from ending, and I really like you both, I'll bring that price down to just 180 silver with the addition of some armor for you."

"Wow! Really?" Her eyes beamed, her smile somehow managing to become even wider, "You really are too kind, Erhard!"

The man polished the blade before placing the blade in the sheath and handing it off to the girl. With the blade now in the demi-human's hands, then strapped to her belt, the two left the shop towards the epicenter, the demi-human also donning a new set of leather armor over her chainmail. Of course, they paid Erhard for his services as well as a little extra for the information he gave to the dictator of both Siltvelt and Latveria.

**Raphtalia**

Along the way, they both received nervous glances and stares from citizens. No person came forward, however, to instigate anything with Victor or Raphtalia. This continued until they got to the church in the middle of town. The two stopped at the stairs leading up to the entrance. Raphtalia glanced at Victor. She could almost swear he sighed before he led the way into the church. The doors were pushed open and they were met with the usual church one would expect from a kingdom as rich as Melromarc. There were long seats placed one after another on either side of the large room. There weren't many people in the seats, which the racoon girl was more than happy with.

A few weeks ago, she would have thought the church was an amazing sight. Since she had been at her master's side, however, she had seen things she would never had thought even possible before. She had seen things that she wouldn't have even _thought_ of in the first place_._ Now, this church seemed like it was just a cut above the average.

As the duo marched forward, they were approached by another duo of nuns. Their outfits were identical, the only identifying features of them being their faces and the glasses the older woman wore. It was the older woman that spoke first.

"The Hero of the Shield, I take it?"

Victor nodded, "Yes, sisters. I seek the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era so I can further prepare myself for the Wave of Calamity." He stood tall, still holding his scowl.

The woman nodded, the younger nun responding to him, "Of course, my lord. If you will follow us, it is right this way."

The nuns began their way back and the duo followed. They were led up a staircase towards the top of the tower past the main worship hall. There, they marched up the spiral and were shown to a large room that was brightly lit. Within was the Hourglass, being emphasized by the lights surrounding it, the coulombs built around it and the dome roof that encased the whole room.

"This Hourglass is nearly identical to Siltvelt's own. Curious, to say the least." The armored man observed.

"Dr. Doom! Your shield!"

He responded to his subordinate's exclamation, lifting his left arm up and eyeing his now glowing blockade. At first, it was the black outline of the gem and the edge of its face. Soon after, the gem began to shine its green hue across his chrome faceplate. Then, it died down.

In the place of the light was an open menu with four digits reading across.

_20:12_

"Is that the time we have until the next Wave?" Raphtalia inquired, still bewildered at the projection that would often appear over his shield and in front of his face.

With a light chuckle and a nod, he responded, "It seems we have little under a day to steel ourselves for the battle. How convenient that we linked ourselves the day before being called upon to save this world."

"What the hell are you doing here, you bastard!?"

Victor turned to the entrance, meeting the scowl of a blonde man and armor with a lance in hand. Behind him was his posse of women, most of them except a woman with red hair a couple of feet behind him.

"If your intention is to inconvenience me with another fight, I will have to decline your invitation. I am here on business, nothing more." Her master replied.

The red-head yelled out, "Don't disrespect lord Motoyasu like that, creep!"

The blonde, now named Motoyasu, stepped forward, gripping his spear tightly, "You act like I'm nothing but a bug to you! I wouldn't be surprised if by now I've already gone leaps and bounds over your level."

Raphtalia stepped ahead, scowling, "I don't know who any of you are, but I will _not _tolerate you speaking to my lord, Victor Von Doom, like that!"

The red-haired girl giggled, "Such a strange woman to not know of lord Motoyasu."

"Adorable…" Motoyasu muttered under his breath, before striding forward and grabbing the demi-human's hands, "I apologize, beautiful mistress! I should have introduced myself. I am the Spear Hero, Kitamura Motoyasu!" He smiled towards her warmly, "Please, allow me to invite you into my party so we can save this world together."

The girl's eyes widened, "The Spear Hero?" She muttered before shaking her head and stepping back, "Sorry, but I'm already in a party with Dr. Doom, so-."

"You're with that villain?!" He tightened his grip, "Please, whatever you've seen I can assure you that he is not a good man. Hell, he should hardly be considered human! If you stay with him, you will surely be in danger."

Suddenly, an invisible force shoved Motoyasu back. It wasn't enough to knock him off his feet, but he still stumbled. When he jerked back up, he scowled at the metal man whose hand was lazily reaching in the Spear Hero's direction. The blonde growled before slamming the spear into his left hand and pointing it towards Victor.

"Will you stop using that cheap trick already! If you wanna fight, we can fight again!"

The ruler of Siltvelt placed his hands behind his back again, "I will not tolerate you speaking about me as if I am not here, peasant. I am the Emperor of Siltvelt, and you will give me the respect nobility oft possesses!"

The girl with the Spear Hero stepped forward, gripping her sword tightly, "Like hell you're of nobility! You haven't been officially recognized as the ruler of Siltvelt and you never will be! Especially with you being away from your kingdom for so long. How do you know your precious haven isn't being overrun by soldiers from Melromarc right now, huh?"

"That is a discussion for another day, Princess Melromarc." The armored man brushed her aside before glaring her down, "But trust me, Doom is still keeping a close eye on his kingdom as we speak."

_Wait, that's the princess of Melromarc? _Raphtalia awed internally, _She doesn't seem like how other people said she was like. She just seems mean, really._

Doom began marching towards the door the other party came in, so Raphtalia followed behind. "My goal of today was to link with the Hourglass, and Doom has done so. I have under twenty hours to make final preparations for this battle, as should you and the other Cardinal Heroes."

Victor stopped at the entrance, turning back to the hero. His eyes began to glow a frightening green and smoke bellowed from them with a darker shade of green. "Do not get in my way during the Wave. If you do, I promise you, I will show you why I treat you and those other heroes like nothing more than mere ants under my boot." He turned away, making his way down the stairs, "Victor Von Doom is a man of his word, after all."

**Dr. Doom**

The next morning came and the man in the green tunic and chrome armor stood at the entrance to Siltvelt with his subordinate at his side. His hands were at his back and he was about to figure out how exactly he would be summoned into the Wave of Calamity. Victor had his estimates, thinking it would be like when he was initially summoned into this world. If this was the case, however, it would mean he might not be able to resist the magic, due to it being a different energy than his own world's. Not that he planned on running from the fight, however.

He turned to Raphtalia, whose head was lowered. "What's the matter? I trained you personally, so you should be more than prepared for this fight."

She shook her head, "N-no, I'm not that nervous. It's just, well…"

"Speak if you will!"

"This is just our first official defense against the Waves of Calamity, Dr. Doom. I just wish to express my gratitude towards you. You graced me by purchasing me above all the other options you had at your disposal and gave me a new life. You gave me a reason to fight beyond my own survival, but for others, even though you probably never even needed to."

"That is where you're wrong, Raphtalia." Victor replied, reflecting on her words as he watched the clouds pass overhead, "You also helped me. If it were not for you, I would not have known about Siltvelt nor the Dragon Hourglass."

"You probably would have found those things out anyways!" He turned to Raphtalia, "You're the strongest and the most resourceful person in the world, I would wager. Even without me, you would be just as capable as fighting the Waves of Calamity as you are now!" She looked down again, "I might not be close to how strong you are, I might not even be able to obtain a fraction of that power! But you inspire me to fight as strong as I can, so as long as you continue to allow me to accompany you," she gripped her sword, pulling it out from its sheath, allowing it to shine in the sunlight, "I will be your sword and follow you to the ends of the earth!"

Victor placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes seemingly warm compared to what they usually are, "The fire you have in your eyes already told me all of this, Raphtalia. I would expect nothing less from you, my right hand." He brought up his shield, the timer ticking down, "Let us fight these beasts without mercy, and win with glory at our backs!"

_00:02_

_00:01_

_0:00_

In an unperceivable instant, the duo's surrounding became that which was within a forest in a location Doom didn't recognize. His hand was still on her shoulder, as if they were having the conversation in the forest. The scene was drenched in a red hue, as the sky seemed to don a scarlet red rather than the usual, smooth blue.

_Peculiar, so it is true. _It_ teleports instead…_

He let go of the demi-human, peering around the forest. He turned back to her after finding nothing out of the ordinary, other than the sky. Through the brush and trees, he noticed a village, Ryute village. It was a village connected to a coal mine, one Doom wanted to use before Siltvelt as a base of operations. The people there were scrambling to get all their things together and to flee from their homes to escape the end of mortality. After that, no indication of the wave starting.

That thought was quickly subdued.

A sound Victor was familiar with began to sound in the same direction as the village. Just under the tree tops' artificial horizon, a rift in space and time began opening. From the rift, creatures resembling hornets and grasshoppers began swarming out of the tear. On the ground, soldiers whose bodies were melting from their decay were charging forward, ripping through the forest indiscriminately.

This was the Wave of Calamity.

To his left, Victor heard a small stampede. He turned finding the other three Cardinal Heroes, Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu, charging towards the direction of the tear. Victor thought at least one would stop at the village to ensure they got out alive, yet none stopped.

Victor shouted towards them, "Are you all blind, or do you not care for this village's well-being?"

As a response, they launched a bright flash of fire into the air. They launched a flare! Victor quickly grasped the light telekinetically and snuffed the light out.

"Those absolute fools, they wouldn't only alert their own guards of this village, but also the monsters of the Wave!" He turned to Raphtalia, "We will lend our hands to the village, then. Start rounding up the people into one group, I will summon drones. You remember this battle strategy, I hope."

The girl nodded, rushing towards the village to help the helpless men, women and children scurrying to get to a single spot in town. Victor turned around, raising his shield-less gauntlet and calling in his militia of flying, metallic soldiers. In the matter of seconds, green flashes began spawning in the air above, and small, flying robots rushed towards the village, circling and moving to different radiuses so the defenses had multiple layers to them.

Drones began shooting into the village immediately, precisely dealing with their targets with their energy-based turrets.

Using his technokinesis, extending into technopathy, he could see everything his drones did. An undead soldier had its arm raised already, about to smite a man with a pitchfork ahead of him. The drone delivered a single shot to the monster's head, blasting it clean off and burning away the decaying, evil flesh. Above, Raphtalia had just made it to the village and hopped in front of the man to check up on him.

"Are you okay, sir?"

He nodded frantically, "Y-yes! Are you a Cardinal Hero?"

She shook her head with a smile, "No, I'm representing Lord Victor Von Doom, the Shield Hero. We are protecting your village!"

Victor adopted another drone's eyes. It was with four other drones, and it was just reaching a small horde of monsters that were just a few yards away from a woman and two children. The drones didn't wait any longer. They began firing their turrets, red energy bursting towards the invaders and mowing them down with ease!

The hero activated the speakers on the drones and began speaking through them, _"I am the Shield Hero, Dr. Doom. I will protect your village and get everyone to a safe location away from the Wave of Calamity. This crisis will be dealt with swiftly!"_

The woman nodded, picking up the children and sprinting towards the center of town. Doom returned to his initial view, gazing at the town and the drones that were scrambling in their own fights against the monsters. Some drones were going down, but two took its place when they were destroyed. For the most part, however, the drones were having no issues with their foes, melting the undead soldiers to ashes. The battle almost seemed one-sided.

Three drones went down. Then two. Then five. Then _ten_!

Something else must have arrived in the town, something quite strong.

Victor began marching into town to see what was causing such destruction. Around him, corpses of monsters were scattered and creating a putrid smoke that wreaked of death. He took note of the people, who were all huddling in together, just as they were instructed. As he peered at them, he saw too many eyes widen in shock and fear in his direction.

He his head, meeting a skeletal beast that was hulking compared to all the other monsters! It wore massive armor and had multiple burns from his drones shooting it. They damaged him, but not nearly enough to kill it without more time. Battle-axe in hand, the creature threw his hand down! Victor stepped to the side, letting the weapon slam into the ground rather than having to block it.

"Hmph," Victor puffed before blasting the beast with his gauntlet's concussive blast. He used a considerable amount of force, many times more than he used against the heroes, which sent the opponent into a building behind it without its axe. "You will be fodder, to be sure."

He turned away from the crash, to where the people were located. He began pacing towards the people, ready to send them to safety. The monster came up behind Doom, its fist wound up and already launching towards him.

"Raphtalia, deal with this rabble."

At command, a flash of brown and orange cut across the beast's front and following the flash of color the creature's arm exploded in blood before its arm all the way up to its bicep fell to the ground. Before it could get a bellow out, another flash dashed across its neck, making a clean decapitation of the creature.

Doom's subordinate landed beside him, then stood straight with a nod, "Something as pitiful as that isn't even worth _my _time." She smiled, looking towards the people, "I think that's all of the villagers, lord Doom."

The Shield Hero nodded. He raised both hands, prompting the crowd to look towards him.

"I, Victor Von Doom, Hero of the Shield, will now send you all to safety! When you return to your homes, I expect nothing more than you to exalt my name." He was about to continue, but his nose began to pick up a new smell, one of burning without typical fuel.

Above him and the crowd, a shower of fire was already descending into the town! Victor closed his eyes, quickly identifying where he would send the people, then when he opened his eyes, green lightning struck across the crowd, hitting every single person and placing them just outside of the Wave's proximity, the quickest place he could send them.

He turned around, Raphtalia diving under him as he created a spherical field around them both. The fire laid waste to the village, hitting homes and the surrounding areas around the Shield Hero. As soon as the fire barrage stopped, Dr. Doom pushed the field away fast enough to create a gust of wind that put out the fires that faced towards the armored man.

"You really are just as powerful as the rumors say." The duo turned to a knight of Melromarc who's most outstanding feature was his blonde mustache which gestured with his smug grin, "And here I thought they were exaggerating!"

Raphtalia dashed forward, getting her blade against the man's throat! Her brows were scrunched as closely as they could get as she growled towards the man, whose grin was now gone, "Did you even know the people were still there?! What about lord Doom? Were you planning on killing them all? Depending on how you answer, I'll kill you where you stand!"

"Our job was to eliminate the monsters, mutt!" He replied scornfully, "The citizens knew that they were supposed to flee from the Waves and besides," He began to grin again, "I just saw your precious Shield Hero kill them in cold blood with that magic he just used, so how is he any better, eh?"

The raccoon girl was about to launch forward again but was stopped by Victor, who put a hand on her shoulder. She hesitated but did step back. Dr. Doom towered over the knight, glaring at him, "That was not destructive magic I used, but a transport spell. As crude as it may have looked, none of the citizens were remotely harmed by my sorcery." Victor kept his onslaught made of his cold stare, "You, however, threatened the lives of those you swore to protect. This time, I will allow you a chance to redeem yourself. The next time you put lives at risk, I will not prevent your deaths like I have now."

"What are you-?" Before the knight could finish, the roar of the horde behind them sounded. The men reacted as best they could, putting up their guards and pointing their blades towards the monsters of Calamity.

The captain himself was still in shock by the time a behemoth skeleton got to him. It was also armed with an axe, which was swinging downwards towards the captain. Doom rushed forward, blocking the goliath with his shield before pushing forward. The skeleton was forced to step back, trying to regain its lost balance. Before it could, Victor crouched down, letting Raphtalia leap off his back and dive towards the monster, jabbing her blade right into its skull and twisting off the head from the body! It crashed to the floor.

Raphtalia rose from the corpse, smiling towards her master with an open grin. This turned very quickly to horror. Victor turned around again, putting his guard up!

_Crash!_

A battle-axe managed to hit the Latverian, sending him back towards his subordinate. He landed on his feet, his eyes now glowing.

"Fodder managed to hit me, Victor Von Doom? I can't believe my arm wasn't fast enough to block a hit like that. In any other scenario that would _not HAPPEN!" _The armored man began to rise into the air, green electricity sparking and hitting any hornet reckless enough to get close to Doom. His hands rose from his sides, and all the surrounding monsters stopped dead in their tracks. Soon, they began to rise as well. **"Feel the power of Doctor Victor Von Doom, ruler of Latveria, the Destroyer of Worlds!"**

The bodies of the monsters began to compress, being crushed as if it were a piece of paper about to be discarded.

**"I AM GOD OF THIS WORLD!"**

At once, the hornet's eyes began to pop out of their heads, the skeletons were turned into nothing more than scraps of bones. Blood from any living monster poured out from them, screams of the creatures soared into the sky, and they wailed in agony. Punishment for defiling his body and his name by managing to hit him. Once he was sure the insects were wrung out, he dropped them all, letting them slam against the floor with a loud thud.

As they hit the ground, Victor looked towards the rift. It was closed.

The drones fled the village, scouting and hunting down the remaining monsters in the forest. They would handle everything else without much issue. He descended to the ground, eyes closed as he regained composure. He tracked as the drones picked off the remaining monsters. As soon as there were no signs of that signature or energy, they all teleported back to Siltvelt for repairs or to begin the mass production of more robots.

The job was done, this forest, this small part of Melromarc, was saved from Calamity.

"Lord Doom?" He turned to his subordinate, head was tilted forward, "We… We did good, didn't we?"

With a sigh, he turned to her and nodded, "Indeed, we won the day and reduced casualties to a minimum. If it weren't for those moronic knights, the town might have been saved as well."

She lowered her head further.

"Very little people died, Raphtalia, if any did at all. If their lives are intact, we have succeeded, and they are alive and well." He placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at his now warm eyes, "We have honored our word to the people, to protect them."

She smiled, nodded with tears forming in her eyes, "You're right." She looked through the debris, the fires now put out save for the small smoke coming from char. In the distance, the citizens were finally returning home, climbing into the debris and moving things around to salvage what they could. They began working together already, trying to restore was once was. But they were able to do so.

"We were heroes today." She finished, her head now held high.

* * *

_**WOO! Finally knocked this sucker out! I'm really glad I finally had the time to get this chapter finished just because of how much anticipation people seem to have for it. Honestly, I couldn't thank you guys enough. If some of you don't read my other stories, you might not know that I've just recently moved into dorms and am now getting adjusted to college. I will try to keep stories flowing when I can, and hopefully I'll have time throughout the year to keep this up.**_

_**Enough of my yammering about my life, Review Response Time!**_

_**L: Dang dude, you really want to have Victor take the legendary weapons away from the others, huh? I'm not sure if I really want to do that just because it kind of contradicts my own ideas about how the weapons might work with the heroes themselves. But don't worry, what I'm thinking of will be equally as awesome, and I hope you'll be satisfied with my answer to your suggestions.**_

_**Doom King of Latveria: Glad you're enjoying this story guy/guyette! I think its also a shame that badass characters like Dr. Doom aren't used as frequently, but at the same time I think it makes it more enjoyable to find the people that genuinely care about the characters and their respective worlds and want to make a badass story combining them. Depending on what it is, I will totally read you Dr. Doom fic and share my thoughts on it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully the next chapter will be even better.**_

_**Tio.21: Updated it.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Dr. Doom**

"Heroes! We received little damage compared to last time. Even I cannot hide my surprise about it! I appreciate the efforts of your journey! Tonight, we feast! Enjoy yourselves!" The king toasted, raising a glass of wine to everyone.

Victor himself was surprised the king even considered inviting him to the celebration. The Latverian was ready to just leave for his kingdom in his world to repair equipment and continue advancing the technology even further but was stopped by a small group of guards who said the king had invited all four heroes to the party. Victor was never a man to turn down an invitation to a celebration, especially if it was celebrating his own work. The other three heroes were laughing and having the time of their lives, which even Victor was happy about. Regardless of his opinion of them and the selfishness they showed towards glory, they did defeat the Wave of Calamity's leading monster and they did stop the Wave at least this time. Even he had to admit, they were heroes themselves.

Victor made his way towards Ren, hands behind his back. It didn't take long for the Sword Hero to notice the armored man making his approach. A guard attempted to block his path, but Doom lifted a hand so his palm faced the guard and Ren.

"I do not intend on starting another feud." Victor pressed, taking his approach further. "I simply wish to congratulate the other Cardinal Heroes and their efforts in fighting the Wave."

The knight looked back, Ren nodded, the knight stepped to the side. Victor stood next to Ren, who glared at him.

"When are you going to begin belittling me then?"

"I won't." Ren's eyes widened, "I do take issue with some of your decisions in the battlefield, but we are celebrating victory now. Let us focus on our highlights before we address our criticisms."

Ren looked away, then nodded. "You weren't fighting the Wave Boss, where were you?"

"I took priority in Ryute Village, the town the other heroes left to the knights of Melromarc to handle." He looked to Ren, "If I may ask, why didn't you get involved in the citizens when given the chance?"

Ren chuckled, grabbing a glass from a table and sipping the wine, "Because, it wouldn't matter. Those people aren't real, they're just NPC's."

Doom's head tilted to the side, "I'm not entirely sure what you mean. What is an, 'NPC?'"

"Oh, right," he scratched the back of his head, "I forgot you didn't play video games. An NPC is a non-playable character, they basically reside in the game and have a specific set of scripts they have to follow. Essentially, they are artificial people."

Victor starred at the hero coldly, "You believe this to be true?"

Ren nodded, "Of course, I mean, this place is exactly like 'Brave Star Online' after all. And the menus and skill system works exactly like it as well."

"Then, you truly are a fool." Ren glared and Doom raised his hand. He was about to continue but was interrupted.

Raphtalia rushed towards him, an empty plate in hand and a smile on her face. "Lord Doom!"

"What is it, Raphtalia?"

"I've just never seen this much food in one place before, I'm not sure what to get. Or if I even can have some of this delicious food!"

Victor chuckled, "This feast is celebrating our efforts, my dear." He waved towards the food, "Eat as your heart desires, you've more than earned your keep during our battle!"

Her eyes lit up, turning to the trays of food and stocking up on her plate as much as it could handle. As soon as she was done stacking the food, she stabbed it with her fork and took a large bit. Almost as if she had to force herself to calm down, she just managed to lower the volume of her squeal.

"Wow," a younger boy's voice sounded behind them. The two heroes turned, meeting the sand-colored blonde, Itsuki, and his scowl, "You know, for a minute there you almost seem like you're trying to be a decent person!"

Victor lowered an eyebrow, "What is it you're trying to insinuate?"

"Don't play dumb with us!" He shouted, gripping his bow tightly. This grabbed the attention of the rest of the crowd, the party coming to a halt. "You took over an entire kingdom and threatened everyone just a few weeks ago, or doesn't anyone remember? He's a villain in the making, a bully trying to use whatever power he can grasp to do what he wants without remorse."

"Although I do admit to having no remorse over my actions," Victor looked at the Bow Hero with a bored look in his eyes, "I do not appreciate more allegations with the effort to propagandize against me yet again."

"Like hell it's propaganda!" Motoyasu called out, himself marching forward and gripping his spear tightly. "I heard what's been going on, and how you've got that girl with you, Raphtalia, as a damn _slave!"_

The spear hero was face to face with Dr. Doom now, though Victor still towered over the blonde. Doom stood unmoved, "Indeed, she is my slave. Though, that isn't any business of yours."

"Not my-!" He stammered, getting into a defensive stance, "She's a person, you piece of trash! People don't belong to people!" He chuckled, his glare remaining as he did so, "Then again, you're actually a monster, aren't you?"

"If you're done nagging me, I will be on my-."

"Fat chance. You and I are having a duel! If I win, you will release her from that slave curse."

"Wait a minute!" Raphtalia stepped forward, "Don't I get a say in-?"

Her mouth was suddenly covered by a cloth and she was yanked back. Victor frowned, projecting a protection bubble around her immediately! The guard that instigated was launched back, flying above and landing against a pillar to land on the floor at the attendee's feet. He walked towards his subordinate, acting as a wall between everyone else and her.

"If any of you so much as consider laying another finger on this girl's head," His eyes began to glow again, smoke coming from both eyes, "I swear to you, every single person that stands in the room will find themselves covered in their own blood. You do _not _touch a loyal disciple of Doom!"

Aultcray shouted, "You _dare _to attack one of my royal guards?! You truly are scum on this earth!"

With a sigh, Victor lifted his head, "Since you insist on fighting me so much, how about I give you a few conditions of my own, hero?" He lifted his hands, which caused the crowd to jump, "I will fight you as I did last time, without anything other than the shield. This time, however, you may ask any persons to come to your aid and I will permit the use of magic for you and your allies."

Motoyasu chuckled, "Really? You're just setting yourself up for failure now, Victor Von Dumb!"

"Now if I win," The hero's grin retracted, "You and whoever fought with you will fight under the banner of Doom for the rest of your lives." He rose his head, "You may salvage your team _before _agreeing to my terms, Hero of the Lance."

Motoyasu swallowed hard. He looked around for his team. Itsuki approached the two, nodding toward his fellow hero. He looked toward the crowd, the red-haired princess stepping behind him. The two heroes looked at the third Cardinal Hero, who only looked away.

"C'mon, Ren! You know this guy is bad news," Motoyasu stretched a hand towards him, "We can beat him if we work together, just like the Wave Boss!"

Ren hesitated, but sighed, eventually giving in and joining sides with the Three Cardinal Heroes.

After him, a few of the knights from Ryute village stepped behind them, a small militia of five men. Motoyasu grinned, looking at his team and gaining more and more confidence as each person joined his side. Eventually, his usual smug grin returned to him as he starred Dr. Doom right in the eyes.

"Alright, you're on, you bastard!"

With another sigh from Victor, the two parties marched towards the door of the feast hall and towards the Palace Gardens, where most royal duels took place.

They were ushered to opposite sides of the square arena. Victor and Motoyasu stood face-to-face, the rest of his impromptu party behind him. The knights stood directly behind him, swords drawn. Ren stood towards Victor's right, standing straight and looking around, very obviously attempting to create a strategy. Malty was at the left, her sword also drawn. Behind them all was Itsuki, bow drawn, and arrow already pulled back.

_You all have passion, I will concede that. But you lack the sheer ability to even come close to this body! _Victor boasted internally.

The king stood in front of the throne, hand raised toward the two parties, "Henceforth, the duel between the Hero of the Shield and the other three Cardinal Heroes plus their supporting party will begin! A loss will occur should the former be driven into a corner, or concede to a loss, himself! The latter, due to the limitations of one, they shall forfeit themselves or be thrown from the arena's grounds to be considered eliminated."

Motoyasu was chuckling, placing a hand on a hip, "Seriously, I didn't think you were this stupid to seriously put so many of us against you at once. Still, I do think it's fitting that the three Heroes of Melromarc should defeat the evil Dr. Doom together! You really put yourself in a corner here, pal."

Victor didn't say anything, but he did switch the shield over to his right arm. He knew what would happen in this fight, he knew how they fought. Even without sorcery, this would be an easy victory for Doom.

"I'll bring you to your knees, Shield Hero! Not just for Raphtalia, but for the world."

"You may now," the king raised his hand, then threw it down, "_BEGIN!"_

The Spear rushed forward, making for a jab towards Doom. The armored man sidestepped to the opponent's left, smacking him in the face and sending him flying into the knights, who toppled save one knight. Ren rushed from behind, but Victor spun around him, making sure to catch his foot with his own. The hero in black rolled forward, to where Malty rushed forward herself. Rather than slashing with her sword, however, she lifted her hand and chanted something under her breath. As she spoke, the wind around Victor began to shift.

He leapt to the side, the gust of wind missing his back and instead hitting the source of the magic. He had no time to chuckle, as barrage of arrows emerged from the sky. He lifted the shield above him, smacking all the arrows out of place and sending one towards Ren, who had only just gotten up.

Motoyasu was back up again, a scowl drawn on his face. He rushed forward again, reeling his spear back again.

"**Turbulent Thrust!" **

The Spear Hero rushed forward at a speed much swifter than before. He thought this would be advantageous, but it would only hurt his goal! As the weapon got close, Victor sidestepped again, grabbing the hilt of the spear and pulling it around centrifugally. He released his grip on the spear, throwing the hero towards the Bow Hero, who just barely sidestepped the attack.

Behind, both Ren and Malty rushed forward! Ren, however, was in front of Malty as he threw the blade down. Victor blocked the blade, then threw the blade and user toward the other, causing him to crash into her chest and sending them both toppling.

The guards we finally on him, surrounding him. One rushed with a sword, which was evaded before Doom smacked his back and sent him into his buddy. The Shield Hero lunged forward, hitting one knight in the face and sending him flying out of the ring with blood streaming down his face. The Latverian turned, parrying a lance by sending it to the ground. He threw down the shield, breaking the metal that made up the spear's hilt before launching a punch of his own at the knight and sending the second opponent out of the ring!

Two knights swung at the same time, which Victor ducked under, causing them to clash their swords. He rose with force, crashing the shield into both weapons and sending the weapons out of the hands of the men. He followed up with smacking one on the head with the flat of the shield, grabbing the other knight, and pulling him into the direction of the other. They both were sent out of the fight.

Ren slide in front of Doom, attempting to hit his legs, but was met with a boot catching the sword against the dirt. He kicked the teen in the face. Usually, that kind of force would have sent a person flying. But with his hand bound to the Sword by some unexplained force, it only led to the dislocation of his left arm. The boy screamed in pain.

"Get away from him you monster!" Motoyasu yelled, rushing at the lone hero's side.

Victor blocked the strike before hearing the stretching of twine. He sidestepped, allowing the arrow to hit the Lance Hero rather than him. That would have to be dealt with now.

He began to rush the bowman, but was struck in the left shoulder by a blade. He turned, backhanding the last knight hard enough in the side to audibly break a few bones. Something else hit Victor in the same shoulder, he turned, seeing the bow which had just released another arrow. Before he could rush, he was, again, interrupted by a strike to the same shoulder. Victor wailed before spinning to grab the spear in his shoulder and slamming the blonde into the ground!

"You cannot hurt Doom! You're nothing more than insects compared to I, the ruler of Latveria and Siltvelt!" He blocked another arrow, but instead of letting it fall, he grabbed it and threw it back towards the archer. It struck, and sent him out of the field.

Another gust of wind began under Victor. He pushed his legs to move, but they refused. He was blown into the air, unable to regain his balance! Just as he was about to launch himself down, he was struck in the same shoulder for the third time by a dash of black! The Sword Hero was above him now, and the arm that was struck was now separated from Victor.

He, the arm, and the black swordsman landed on the ground. With a cough, Victor pushed himself up, meeting Motoyasu who was looking in horror.

"Oh my god, I didn't think…" Motoyasu yelled into the crowd, "Is there a healer here or something?!"

"So…" He stuck a leg on the ground, lifting his torso and head up from the ground. His now-missing arm was sparking, wires sticking out from the body. Oil spilled onto the tunic and into the dirt. The dismembered, armored man tilted his head back, "This-_is _is-_s-s-__**s**_**-ss**… the-the-_the th- _**limit.**"

Motoyasu stepped back, shaking his head, "No… no way! You really weren't human?! I was just kidding before."

"No-n-n-_no-_**no, **you fool-_ol! _This is simply-imply-_**ERROR… **_Simply a shell _for my _consc**ienc**NESS-_ness." _The body stood, as it did a kneecap fell off. The husk used its remaining hand to press against its neck, to which something snapped inside the armor, "_That's better_."

Ren moved in front of Doom with Itsuki at his side. The chrome man continued, attempting to pace with a limp, _"See, I had many questions about how this shield worked, and I didn't want to waste my precious time with the Calamity if I could help it. So, I made this prototype of my new shells." _He grabbed his facemask, ripping off the plate at revealing gears and wiring throughout the face, _"This is what I call, a Doombot. With this technology, I could focus on research while also fighting the Waves and whatever else at the same time."_

"So you weren't even fighting in the Calamity! You just sat in safety while we fought with our lives!" Malty interrogated.

"_It wasn't as if I wasn't there. See, I build these Doombots specifically to carry over my direct consciousness at my discretion. I was, in fact, fighting during the Wave of Calamity. It just wasn't at the risk of my own life." _

"That can't be true!" Motoyasu yelled out, "I saw your menu at the hourglass and you were teleported into the Wave with us, we saw that!"

"_I thought that was peculiar myself, but it affirmed my previous hypotheses about the legendary weapons. The key to them, is the consciousness!" _Victor bent down to where a sword laid on the ground, _"See, as long as I, that is my consciousness, houses a body that can maintain the abilities of the shield, this world seems to consider that body the same as my own, including the abilities of the shield. However, once my consciousness leaves…"_

The robot jittered before reaching for the sword, picking it up. However, this time the weapon didn't retaliate, but it laid the palm of the shell. The robot rose from the ground, looking back at the heroes, _"I'm no longer bound by the same restrictions!"_

He pointed the sword towards them, _"I forfeit." _Lightning emerged from the sword and struck all of the remaining opponents! They were sent to the ground, smoke rising from their now singed clothes. _"You've won against this husk, congratulations, heroes! Now I may use all the information I've gathered to improve my next generation of Doombots, as well as put my consciousness into one of them."_

Itsuki picked himself up first, "You… have more of those things?"

The robot's head erupted in an explosion as electricity was sent throughout the robot, frying every single gear within and melting it down to indecipherable metal. Ahead of them, green lightning struck, an identical figure to the robot taking its place.

"I will have dozens more by the end of the month. I assure you, they will be much closer to my reaction time than this one was. It was almost an embarrassment." He marched towards the king.

Ren growled, "This is cheating! You're just a cheating bastard! You've hacked the game! You're-!"

"I said it before, Sword Hero." He turned back to the boy in black, "This is no game. I am just objectively superior!"

He continued to march towards the king, who recoiled in his throne. Victor glared down at the king, who was now sweating profusely.

"My automaton lost. You may remove her slave crest if you still desire to do so."

The king's eyes widened. He hesitated, but flicked his hand towards the girl. Guards moved towards her, using a clear liquid and a chant on her crest. Once the chant was complete, the crest disappeared and Raphtalia's status as a slave was removed from her name, as well as her name from his party. She lowered her head.

Victor marched strode towards her. Once he was in front of her, she looked up, her face stern.

"Let me join your party, Shield Hero." Raphtalia, the free demi-human he saw grow into a warrior and an adult, asked.

Victor Von Doom crossed his arms, "Do you swear your undying loyalty to Latveria, Siltvelt, and more importantly, the name of Victor Von Doom, Raphtalia?"

"I swear, by your very name, my lord Victor Von Doom, I will remain your sword until the dying breath of your last enemy. I will take my own life before revoking your name." She bowed, "You have my word."

Victor turned to Motoyasu, who had the look of utter defeat plastered on his face. Victor lifted his head, scowling in the Spear Hero's direction.

"This is the inevitable nature of Doom, Spear Hero. Even when you win against Victor Von Doom, you gain nothing! You were defeated before the fight began, and it all started with your reasons for fighting." He placed his hands behind his back, lowering his gaze on the heroes altogether, "Perhaps you all should reflect on that before me meet again, Cardinal Heroes. Let it be known, Doom Shall reign supreme. For it is my will!"

With a crack of thunder in the sky and a flash of green, blinding light, the same light that summoned the second Doom into the arena, both he and the Raccoon girl was gone. The heroes stood on their feet, all three scrunching their brows and clenching their fists.

They vowed to themselves when introduced with this world and the Waves of Calamity that they would all win in the end and come out of this world as heroes with glory at their backs. Now, they made a new vow with each other, together, with a new goal in mind. One that, through their own anger, was made with the fire of opposition.

"**Doom will die!"**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note: I just want to apologize for the confusion that happened recently with my last update of the fake chapter. See, what happened was that I wasn't sure how to continue my stories and I wanted feedback, so I had made temporary announcement chapters that I didn't realize were against guidelines for publishing chapters. Luckily, it was brought to my attention and the chapters weren't even up for an hour before I deleted the chapters. In response, I decided to make this chapter a little bit longer than the rest, reaching about 8.5 thousand words, so enjoy that. I'm going to put the Q&A/review comments at the end of the chapter as a result of that, so those of you who just want that don't have to sift through it all to get to the story.**_

_**P.S. Sorry about the hiatuses, but things are honestly pretty busy for me most of the time so finding time to write chapters has been difficult.**_

* * *

**Aultcray Melromarc**

The king sat on his throne, the three men he considered heroes in front of him. They had bags with gold in them, the rewards for helping in the defeat of the first Wave of Calamity. By all means, they should have been ecstatic. Melromarc and its citizens had been spared disaster due to their efforts. But the aftermath, the king's most recent attempt to get one over upon that cursed Shield Hero, Victor Von Doom was an utter failure.

The king closed his hand in a fist, _It just doesn't make any sense. We won, we defeated that bastard in battle! Yet that man still turned his own defeat into what feels like a checkmate!_

He knew the heroes were thinking the same things from their scowls towards the floor. _There has to be some way to go against that man, that monster!_

The king sighed, realizing he had to say something to the heroes. "The situation seems grave, our heroes. But do not let one failed attempt destroy your spirits," Aultcray stood, raising a fist in the air, "We will win, as the Cardinal Heroes always have!"

The heroes didn't look up at the attempt to raise their spirits. Aultcray sighed again, going to take his seat again.

Itsuki looked up towards the window, "I'm not so sure if these abilities are enough anymore." The others looked at him, to which he turned back to the king, "I mean, you all heard him! He's got what are essentially copies of himself so when he's defeated another one of him can just take his place."

Ren looked at Itsuki, crossing his arms, "I know it's a bit late for this, but I don't think he was kidding with what he said before." The heroes' attention was o the Sword Hero, "When we were in our room the first night, he mentioned his world. The people there had technology that allowed time travel and had magic that seemed equally as powerful." He returned the attention his audience was giving him, "He said he was a threat to people like that."

Itsuki groaned, placing the Legendary Bow on his shoulder, "He didn't really go into how powerful the people of his world were either, so we couldn't guess how much of his power he's even used."

"Agh!" The red hero let out, scratching his head, "Why is it this guy is so damn strong? That is beyond unbalanced!"

Ren placed a hand on his chin, "Well, he said he was a threat to those people with such advanced technology, right?"

"We already said that." Itsuki replied.

"He didn't say that he ruled his world like he said he would do here. That must mean that some people defeated him, right?" He turned to the window, "I wish we had a way to contact that world, then we could ask them how they beat Dr. Doom."

Motoyasu placed the bottom of the lance on the ground, "Yeah, but we wouldn't even know who to ask there. It's not like he told us who his arch nemesis was."

"Either way, he can be defeated. We just need to figure out what that trump card is and use it." Ren turned to the king, "It might not be next time, but we will defeat Victor Von Doom eventually."

The other two heroes were up again, Itsuki pulling back his bow as if he was preparing for battle and Motoyasu placing his lance confidently on his shoulder. The dark Cardinal Hero held his sword at his side, as he normally would. The king could only smile at their confidence and resilience. Their wills alone bringing them back on their feet and ready to move on. They were warriors at heart, and for that Aultcray was proud to call them his heroes.

The king stood, nodding to the heroes, "For now, you three should help the people as much as you can. Go your own ways, town to town, and help the Melromarc citizens as you can!" He bowed to the heroes, "Thank you for your high spirits despite this daunting news."

_The future of Melromarc is not so grim after all. _Aultcray Melromarc sat back down, hopes high and his nerves relaxed. _The damned Shield will _not _win!_

**Raphtalia**

**Siltvelt**

The screens above showed the streets of his kingdom. People were smiling as they talked among themselves, beastmen and humans alike. The group of children played in the streets, running after one another. A girl that trailed behind the rest of the children tripped over herself and would have landed on her face had one of the infantry Doombots not caught her by the nape of her furry neck.

The robot still resembled Victor, but only because of his metal face plate and the general metallic shell. Any trace of green that was on the primary Doombots was nonexistent with them, and the eyes were nothing more than green lights masking the cameras that rested in each of the Doombots' skulls.

The automaton placed her gently on her feet once more. She smiled at the robot, which translated through a monitor Raphtalia was observing. "Thank you, King Doom!"

Raphtalia smiled back at the girl and nodded with full knowledge that the girl couldn't see her. She turned to the window of the castle, seeing the city which was once filled to the brim with corruption and abuse of power now being something she could only describe as a paradise. Siltvelt had been expanded, the original walls being torn down and sent further into the fields to make room for the houses the children with no home could stay. The fields themselves were much more efficient, as more acres of harvests were created using a technology from her king's world that made harvesting much easier for all the hard workers. And the people that worked did work much more diligently than they had before.

At first, the threat of punishment was held over their heads to work harder, particularly in the mine shafts. Raphtalia herself had a few confrontations with Victor as she viewed some of his practices as cruel. In the end, all the resources gained from their work seemed to be put towards making work easier where he could manage. None of the workers ever worked themselves to death or had any serious injury that wasn't immediately attended to, which was already better than what most rulers would have done. Once he had enough drones, they eventually replaced workers in specific fields, like construction which had to be done anyways due to the people not knowing how the new technology was supposed to be installed.

Pipelines of 'wires' were added throughout the entire city which allowed power to flow through them in the form of artificial lightning into the city's defenses, and many other things that Raphtalia still couldn't believe were possible. Houses were able to heat themselves without wood or coal burning in fireplaces. Water was pure as it ran _into _the houses for people to use. The person using the water could even choose to have the water hot or cold or even somewhere in between, which to the raccoon girl she found that especially useful in baths. All the things Siltvelt had made even the most common worker feel like they were a king,

Yet, the real king of Siltvelt had only yells of frustration in his laboratory.

With a sigh, king's right hand woman opened the door to the armored man, cursing as he smashed the machine in front of him to pieces with his telekinetic abilities. The room was filled to the brim with gadgets and machines already, most of them successful. The only ones that weren't successful just had yet to be built. Above, the only light in the room seemed to be electricity being held in a glass ball, flowing freely and giving everything a shade of blue.

She hadn't seen his temper like this before, which only seemed to arrive when Dr. Doom's attempt at something failed. As the sophisticated machine was turned into scraps and was dropped onto the brick floor harshly, the girl stood at the door, a large part of her terrified. Another part of her understood the anger; he only wanted to go home to his people, to Latveria, and live his days like they were. If it were possible, Raphtalia would have wanted to return to the time when her parents were alive and have them at her side. If that seemed within arm's reach to her, to then be stopped by something she had been able to overcome before but couldn't at the moment, she might have been equally as angry.

"I have built this machine half a dozen times! I have memorized the size of every bolt down to the nanometer!" He slammed his fist on the small table in front of him, papers flying off and fluttering to the ground, "Yet I find myself stupefied as to why the dimensional transporter I designed myself and used successfully refuses to comply to my demands!"

The drones began breaking the machine down, looking to scrap the parts of the machine and recycle them for later. Dr. Doom looked down, the blue glow shining down on him as he reviewed the blueprints he made specifically for the machine. Raphtalia was about to take a reluctant step forward but was stopped when Victor raised his right hand, which also held the legendary shield on his wrist.

"I shall return to this once this failure is scrapped. For now, you and I must focus on our mission." He turned around, his usual stoic face visible underneath the faceplate. "Isn't that right, Raphtalia?"

With a smile, the raccoon girl nodded, "What is your plan, Dr. Doom?"

"It is simple, my dear. We will expand our influence beyond Melromarc!" The armored man scooped up his cape, "I shall leave Siltvelt in the hands of a Doombot in my absence and we shall leave for Shieldfreeden at once."

The girl's ears perked up, "Why are we going to Shieldfreeden? Shouldn't we focus out efforts on Melromarc?"

The armored man turned to her, almost scowling, "Melromarc, as it has been proven to us countless times, is refusing to cooperate with Doom in defending against the waves." The man turned to the entrance of the workshop, swinging it open with a single swipe of a hand, "As such, I will turn my attention to those more eager to accompany us on our journey!"

"So," the girl reluctantly replied, trailing behind him as they both approached the path towards the main hall, "Are we just forgetting about Melromarc and letting them gain more power? I'm sure you're well aware about how angry they are about finding out about our little secret."

"I'm sure they are, but they will not strike when they know not how many of my Doombots are available to strike. I want them to think they have a chance, for at least a little while longer." Victor stopped as he stepped foot on the carpet that spread down the hall towards the entrance of the castle which stood open. He placed both hands behind his back and tilted his head downward, "Do not worry, we will deal with Melromarc shortly after we make relations with the other kingdoms."

**Faubley**

**Queen Melromarc**

The woman couldn't help but frown at her spy, who was standing in front of the window as her dress was being fitted by her personnel. The more she heard about the new Shield Hero, the more she began to question the sanity of her spies.

"I apologize, but I thought I heard you say our new ruler of Siltvelt had a copy of himself after that battle." She frowned, making her doubt apparent on her brow, "Then he and his follower was stricken by lightning without any trace of them left on the scene." The queen shook her head, "Regardless, this isn't good. That man, Doom, has proven time after time that he is not the kind of man that one should consider lightly. With this news of this fight and his declaration weeks before, the Shield Hero is painting a target on his back that the king of Faubley is feeling threatened by."

"Shall I intervene Victor and give him a warning, my Queen?" The informant suggested, raising her head so her white mask could be seen.

"Absolutely not," The purple-ette ordered before sighing, "If you did that, I fear he might strike you down. No, the Shield Hero has proven himself resourceful on his own. When I am done here, I shall make way towards Shieldfreeden and Siltvelt rather than home, I must speak with the other nations about this situation and calm them down. Then, I must give proper apologies to the Shield Hero." The queen looked off towards the industrial city of Faubley below, the spy already gone from her squat on the window to continue her scouting of the Shield Hero.

The woman's only hope was that the man in question would be willing to give her an audience when the time came. For now, she was already packed and prepared to have an audience with the officials of Shieldfreeden.

**Melromarc**

**Raphtalia**

The two marched through the town, getting glares and stares that were either filled with awe or fright. Had the racoon girl not been accustomed to her King's feats, she might have been in just as much awe and fright as they were. Even if Dr. Doom did lose, it was still impressive that he held his own against so many men as long as he did. Three Cardinal Heroes, the rotten princess Malty Melromarc, and five royal knights would have been enough to kill almost anyone else in a fraction of the time. If only the shell he used wasn't the original Doombot he created, he probably would have won the battle.

The shell was enough to defend the village from the Wave, albeit not to Dr. Doom's likings. He was able to be hit during the fight, after all. During Raphtalia's sparring practice with Victor, the real Victor, even with her speed she couldn't get so much as a speck of dust on his shoes. She wouldn't know what it was that messed up to allow him to be hit then, but she could only imagine it was the body locking up. This time around, however, the Doombot he resided in now was built with much more refined materials and with more time put into it.

Any enemy would have to be extremely lucky to land a strike on the king of Siltvelt now!

Still, as they marched through the streets with all the citizens moving out of their way the girl was quickly becoming confused. "Dr. Doom, I thought you said we were going to Shieldfreeden."

The man nodded, his march unfazed, "I decided to take a detour." He made a sudden turn to the right, into an alley that was somewhat familiar to the demi-human, "Last night, you were grabbed from behind. That is something I will not allow again, so I'm inquiring about a third member to our party. Besides, if we are to eventually overtake this kingdom, having an extra member will only make victory that much easier."

As the two emerged from the alley, she realized why it was familiar. Ahead of them was a striped tent in a generally open area. As soon as she saw the tent, some of her nerves tensed up.

Inside, the slave trader himself, Beloukas, gave the armored man his classic white-toothed grin. "Ah, Lord Doom! Before anything else, I must congratulate you on becoming the king of a nation. It sure came as a surprise to me when I first saw it; then again, you look like the 'take charge' kind of guy." The man twiddled the cigar in his mouth, "And now I'm hearing stories about you being able to come back from the dead. What's up with that?"

Dr. Doom crossed his arms, narrowing his gaze at the short man, "I did not come here for gossip."

"Ah, I forgot how to the point you are. That's what I like about you!" The man with the mustache waddled over to a chair, taking a seat. He leaned back, the back of his head bumping into a set of eggs all laid on a purple cushion and perfectly aligned. "You and I met the merchandise before, so I'll leave it to you to find what you're looking for." He turned to Raphtalia, "You do know how to pick 'em well, it seems. You ever thought of selling that dame, she's probably worth a couple gold. Twenty if she were a virgin."

The racoon girl frowned, stepping forward with a stomp, "What do you mean, if I _were _a virgin?I am a-." She stopped herself, stepping back into place as Doom stepped forward instead.

"Do not comment such vulgarity towards my subordinate, slaver. You will respect my allies as they represent my title!" The armored man crossed his arms, nodding to the eggs behind the man in the hat, "That collection behind you is new, trader. Are you expanding your merchandise into décor now?"

The slaver cleared his throat, turning to the eggs, "Oh, those aren't decorations, my lord. These are genuine Filolial eggs, my good sir! Although, I made these eggs with the idea that there may be a chance that whoever buys them gets a dragon instead."

"A gamble then."

"Yes, but either way you'll be getting your hands on a great companion, both of which can fight with you and carry a cart full of supplies." The man inhaled then exhaled, smoke filling the air around Dr. Doom. "Let's say you get into a situation where you wanna get some people clear of a blast you want to create on a pesky troublemaker, it would come quite in handy when protecting that demi-human you've got there."

Victor turned to Raphtalia, who stood with an eyebrow raised, then returned his attention to Beloukas. "My goal here _is _to have proper protection for my subordinate. I would also rather avoid the purchasing of a slave if at all possible. The last time I had one in the midst of the Cardinal Heroes a fight broke out."

"Most meddlesome, sir Doom." The short man raised a hand, "How about this, to make up for my rude comments towards the girl, I'll let you purchase the egg for a meager fifty silver coins. We have a deal?"

The armored man stared down, considering the options. _All of the other creatures would be slaves, considering them being beastmen or usually untamed. It would also be easier to mold a creature from birth to be how I want it to be rather than an adult. _He hated to move on a gamble, but this time it almost seemed worth it.

"If it doesn't turn into a dragon, what would its uses be thereafter?"

The fat man shrugged, "It can lug around some of those extra valuables if you want, or it can carry you around the country. Though, that doesn't seem too useful to a man like yourself." The cigarette holder shifted to the other side of his mouth as he shrugged, "I suppose if you didn't want it you could try to sell it or you could cook it. The choice is yours, really."

The metal man reached for his pouch, taking his fifty coins and placing them on the table next to the shorter man, "Doom usually would not settle for a gamble, but I am short on time. Hand me that egg," the dictator pointed to one of the center eggs that laid in neat rows, "Do not pester me with any other trivial conversation, slaver."

"Of course, sire." The man grinned wickedly, quickly grabbing the egg and handing it to the costumer who already tossed a small pouch of coins on the white table in the center of the makeshift room. Once the slaver handed Dr. Doom the egg, the transaction was complete, and the now-trio were on their way out of the kingdom finally to move towards Shieldfreeden.

The two exited the large tent and the raccoon girl was given the egg to carry in place of her master. They began their march once again, leading their way towards the demi-human based kingdom with haste. This unfortunately didn't include Dr. Doom using his levitating ability teleportation as they both feared the egg would be in danger if they did so. Instead, he had a small aircraft in the form of one of his previous inventions simply named the Saucer Ship brought to the now three of them by one of the infantry level Doombots with plenty of rations for the trip in advance to make their way towards their destination.

**The Next Morning**

**Dr. Doom**

The ruler of Siltvelt ordered the Doombot to land the aircraft. The robot, bound by the orders of its master, didn't hesitate to begin the descent. This order, however, was enough to awaken the racoon girl from her slumber in the next room. She was still tired, evident from the rubbing of her eye.

"Lord Doom? What's happened?"

"Nothing to be alarmed of, we simply need to stop is all."

The dictator turned to face her, the egg in hand. Of which was cracked and shaking.

It didn't take much time to land, the landing of which being soft. The egg was sat in Doom's room on top of a soft blanket in which the pieces of shell that were being broken off fluttered on top of. After a few pokes of a yellow beak, the pink feathers of the bird were becoming visible. Once the egg had been thoroughly cracked, the bird pushed in one strong movement and burst the shell clean off top!

This first person it laid eyes on was Victor, and thus it leapt on top of his head. Victor knew what this meant, "Imprinted." He answered.

Raphtalia let out a soft giggle, "Looks like it thinks you're its mother."

With a light hum, the armored man nodded, "All the better, it will be easier to train that way." Doom stood, marching towards the entrance of the room, "Come now, we must feed this bird. It is morning after all."

The demi-human happily stood and followed her leader out of the Saucer Ship. From there, they could see they had landed on top of a hill which laid right outside of Riyute village. The very same village the Shield Hero and his companion had saved in the Wave.

_Quite convenient, if I should say so myself. _The dictator mused to himself.

Even from the distance he was at, the ruler could tell the village had already begun rebuilding what once was and everyone in the village had begun to return to daily routines, evident by the crops which were growing once more. It was clear by how much progress that had been done that the village had received no support from the King or his men. This was yet another instance where the incompetence of those in charge poked at Doom's sides like thorns on a rose's stem. Those men that were responsible for destroying the small portion of the village with the inappropriate use of destructive pyre should have been held accountable for their irresponsible acts! If it had been Doom, those men would be worked until they starved or they fixed the village brick for brick.

Once they reached the town, which for the moment was vacant of people roaming the streets, they found themselves at the town's tavern where they entered to a room lit merely by the morning sunlight. They were greeted by the bartender, a woman donning a apron over a blue, long-sleeved shirt and a long, brown skirt that acted almost like the bottom half of a dress.

She smiled while her eyes widened, "Ah! Shield Hero! What a pleasant surprise to see you back in our humble village."

"Humble would be a misuse of the word, my dear." Victor beckoned to the door, "That fool, Aultcray, I bet hasn't even informed your village if he were to send men to fix the village his own men were responsible for."

The woman sighed, shaking her head, "No, I suppose he hasn't. We will make it through, don't even think twice about that." She smiled half-heartedly, "We're a strong group of individuals, after all!"

"Indeed, you are." The ruler of Siltvelt nodded towards her, "Is this tavern open for business?"

She nodded with a smile, "We have to have some form of income still." She pointed towards the tables, "Have a seat anywhere you like and I'll get some menus to you as soon as I can."

The armor-clad man began marching towards a seat in the center of the room, "Take your time to prepare, we will be in town for quite some time, I believe."

The three took their seats and Raphtalia raised an eyebrow towards the Latverian, "I thought you said Shieldfreeden would be our prompt goal, Lord Doom."

The man nodded. "Indeed, I did. However," He reached his hand up, gently lifting the filolial off his head and placing it on the table, "This little one hatching so soon has changed our plans. I was expecting it to be a week at least before it emerged."

"How long are you planning on our stay here in Riyute, then?"

"Once I can be sure that this little one can move on its own, then we will move."

"What about Shieldfreeden? We shouldn't wait so long over something like this if we are to-."

Doom raised his hand, stopping the questions of the demi-human immediately. He gave a pause as the bartender came by with the menus and the smile ever-present on her face.

"Luckily," the woman began, "this tavern was spared in the Wave, so all of our items are still available! However, because crops were destroyed some items' prices have been raised." As she ended the sentence, she began to become more nervous.

Dr. Doom nodded, taking a light hold of the menu and looking around at the menu. He nodded again and looked to the woman, "I will have an order of the vegetable porridge for the bird and the most expensive breakfast item you have for both me and my companion." He reached into his pouch of coins at his belt and placed two gold coins on the table and slid them to the woman, "I will give you nothing less than this for your services. In return, give the three of us your typical service you would give to commoners."

The woman was given back the menu and nodded furiously, slowly taking hold of the coins. She covered her mouth before replying, "T-thank you, my lord! We will do what we can. Thank you! Thank you!" She turned back to the counter and swiftly made her way through a doorway that was assumed to be the kitchen.

Doom turned back to the racoon girl, who was smirking, "That was a lot more than double of what anything would have cost."

"Consider it a boost for them. They are having enough struggles as it is building their homes to what they once were. Finances should be the last of their concerns."

"If only the heroes could see this side of you, I'm sure they would change their tunes about us."

"Their opinions are no concern of mine. I do what I know I need to and what is right." Victor began to scratch the head of the bird, which in return earned him a few coos. "Their standards of right and wrong have no sway on me."

With a deep breath, the racoon girl crossed her arms and leaned back, "So, what are we going to do about Shieldfreeden?"

"Please, my dear, Doom already has that being taken care of as we speak."

**Shieldfreeden**

**Raphtalia**

When they reached Shieldfreeden, she was quite surprised by the whole experience.

They landed right outside of the city and marched in like travelers normally would. As they marched closer to the city, they were able to paint a better picture about how the city looked. For Raphtalia, the entire city looked similarly sophisticated when compared to Melromarc. Although, the architecture was quite different.

Buildings were generally between two to four levels high and all of the buildings seemed to have rooftops that rose about another story tall. The buildings generally looked the same throughout with very few buildings looking unique from another. In fact, Raphtalia couldn't see any capital building or castle to speak of!

Dr. Doom hummed a bit before pulling his cloak in front of himself, "This reminds me of the streets of Rome in my world."

"Rome?"

"A place where, in my world's history, some of the more sophisticated of people came about. Paintings, architecture, and many philosophers came from Rome and places related to it, though not as notable as philosophers in Greek history." The armored man had the lead, marching down a stone path which lead to a stone wall with a raised wooden gate where a guard stood at attention, "Let us hope they can have the same level of civility as the Romans did when they were not at war with another nation."

Raphtalia was about to ask what he meant by that, but she knew now wasn't the time to talk. The guard had noticed the two by now and it was now time for Victor Von Doom to leave his impressions.

The guard spoke up, slamming the butt of his spear on the ground, "State your business with the great city of Shieldfreeden, traveler!"

"It seems you cannot recognize royalty when it is in front of them! I will give you a single warning and a single chance to correct your mistake." The armored man narrowed his eyes at the guard, who was notably young.

Said young guard stepped back a bit, obviously shaken by the sudden burst of retaliation. He was about to speak up, even turning his spear towards Victor. Raphtalia took hold of her sword hilt, ready to deflect the spear and counter with a blow of her own. This interaction was interrupted by a guard above who was on patrol along the city walls.

"Herald, you dunce! That's the leader of Siltvelt, the Shield Hero! Bring him in at once!" The man turned to the small group, a nervous smile on his face, "I apologize, my lord! I will be down to greet you properly."

The younger guard scrambled to the side and fell to one knee with his head lower than his shoulders, "I apologize, my lord! Please, forgive my ignorance and my insolence!"

"That's more like it." Victor mumbled before taking his journey towards the city. As they entered the city, the guard from above came sprinting towards the hero and the demi-human. The man himself was a demi-human, as seen by the fluffy tail that sprouted from his backside.

As he reached them, he practically slid on the ground as he bowed on one knee, "Lord, Doom! Shieldfreeden happily greets your arrival. Please forgive the young one at the gate, he was not in the city when your message. We were not aware that you had actually gotten our message so soon."

"You sent us a message?" Raphtalia spoke up.

The man nodded, "To all of the Legendary Heroes, in fact. We wished to give you all a warm welcome into our world, despite the fact that the king of Melromarc summoned you all into the world illegally."

"Siltvelt never got those messages. When did you send them?"

"The messages should have arrived just recently, actually. We delivered them to the king of Melromarc, so it should have gotten to each of you." With a sigh, the guard scratched the back of his head, "Although, from what you've told us from the screen the king might not have been eager to disclose it." The guard shook his head, bringing a smile to his face, "Nevermind that, my lord. What brings you here if it was not for the message?"

Doom gave his attention to the guard, "I wish to speak to your king, guardsman. I have important matters to discuss with them."

"Certainly, my lord." The man stood, taking the lead into the city, "Although, I must correct you my lord. We have no king."

"No king? A republic then?"

The guard chuckled, "Perceptive as ever, my lord." The guard, crossed his arms as they marched, "Indeed, we are made up of representatives in a senate of sorts. They look out for the best interests of us and now that the heroes are involved, the interests of the rest of the world."

The armored dictator nodded, observing the town and the people who stared in awe and the few older citizens that bowed with respect towards the Shield Hero. Raphtalia had to admit that the it was a good change of pace to go to another country as a guest and be welcomed rather than being accused of being every name under the Sun. One of the most standout things about this nation was that the demi-humans and the humans seemed to live together in peace. Some in the distance that hadn't noticed their group were talking amongst themselves and some were even laughing together. It was very similar to Siltvelt, actually.

It didn't take long for the three to reach their destination. A larger structure that was white with columns along the front at the top of the step which led to the front doors of the building and a dome roof made it clear that it was an important landmark. It stood alone in the center of open space where people in business attire had their conversations when they weren't taking notice of the Shield Hero and the entourage around him.

The guard turned to the other two, his smile still present, "Here we are, at the Senate's Congregation. I will be outside and ready to show you to a place to rest for your stay here if you so wish, my lord." The Siltvelt leader and his right hand began up the steps before the guard spoke up again, "I must warn you, however, the council is rumored to be ready to go to war with Melromarc for going against the international laws regarding the summoning of the heroes. You may wish to dissuade them from this course of action."

Doom turned towards him with a glare, "You misunderstand my motives, guardsman. War is precisely my goal in coming here!"

Victor turned forward once more, marching into the building and past guards who did little to try to stop his interruption of the council. Raphtalia didn't blame them. Once they made it to a larger set of doors that stood at a height of almost double that of her master's, Raphtalia took her steps forward and smiled at Doom. "Ready to start a war?"

"We are here, are we not, my dear?"

With that, the dictator and his right hand made their way inside with Raphtalia at the front to open both doors. Once they were both open, she stepped to the side, letting Doom take the lead and following behind. The demi-human looked around, getting a view of the representatives as they sat at multiple levels in a large circle and facing the center of the room. In the middle was three men, of which were already staring the two of them down as they marched forward. It didn't take long for the rest of the crowd to follow suit, their conversations coming to a half once they were in the middle of the whole congregation.

Dr. Doom stood proud, cloak in hand as he spoke up to the three older men with enough volume for the rest of the crowd to hear. "You know my name, councilmen. You have asked for an audience and in return I will have you all as an audience for me. I have a proposition for you all, if you would listen."

The middle councilman in front of the leader of Siltvelt cleared his throat, nearly matching the volume of Victor, "Usually, we would have a process for these kinds of things. However, given the circumstance that you are the Shield Hero, we will hear you in this manner. You may proceed, Lord Doom."

Victor turned to the rest of the council, "I am sure you are all aware of my arrival to Melromarc. From the beginning, I was met with nothing but insults and disgust for action I did not commit. I was given insufficient information to complete my mission, falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and arrested for defending myself against another of the Legendary Weapons which I was summoned with illegally by Aultcray Melromarc. Despite every reason I had to lash out against the king, I held back for there were those who still adored the king for the few good deeds he was capable of." Doom turned back to the three elders, "If only this were the end, I would not be standing here today. I fought against the Waves of Calamity at Melromarc and defended its citizens against their own soldiers who were willing to sacrifice a village of innocent farmers and families in order to kill a monster which would have been dealt with by my hand regardless.

"It was after I saved every individual from that village that the king had assaulted my companion with me today. A citizen of mine and the most highly decorated and loyal soldier in my army who has been at my side nearly since my arrival was grabbed by the guard. I had given the king a second chance, and he did not take it seriously."

The council began to mumble to each other. Some of them nodded to one another while others had their arms crossed, angry about the mistreatment of one of the Legendary Weapons. Raphtalia knew what was coming next, the council needed to know the goal of this speech.

One of the elders, the one to Raphtalia's left, spoke with a raspy voice, "We apologize in the king's place, Shield Hero. But why did you feel the need to interrupt our meeting for this? We have important matters to discuss."

Raphtalia stepped forward, nodding to her master, "That is because of some of the information the king intentionally left out for _all _of the Legendary Weapons." She placed her hands behind her back and stood tall while the attention was placed on her. It was nerve wracking and her hands had become clammy, but she had to continue now, "He intentionally left out that the other nations of this world were being targeted by the Waves of Calamity."

Someone from the crowd slammed their foot on the ground, shouting out in frustration, "That king is using the Waves as a power move against us! He plans on wiping us out without needing to lift a finger!"

Another person spoke out, "That bastard needs to pay for his crimes! Why is this even an argument?"

The middle elder stood and lifted a wooden staff before slamming it against the ground. The sound of wood hitting concrete echoed throughout the congregation, hushing the crowd and settling the noise. Once the noise pollution hit a minimum, the middle council member nodded towards the Shield Hero.

"I can certainly see your frustration, Shield Hero. However, we cannot make a decision today."

Raphtalia was about to step forward to retaliate, but was stopped by the shield donned on her master's right forearm. He stepped forward, staring down at the man, "Why is that, councilman?"

"Simply put, the queen of Melromarc has already asked to see the council about this matter. As Melromarc is supposed to be a matriarchy, she assumed full responsibility over the events of the previous month and wishes to discuss these matters personally." The old man, sat back in his seat with a sigh, "As much as I want to partake in retaliation, out of respect for the queen we must allow her to speak on her own behalf."

Dr. Doom nodded, crossing his arms, "When did the queen say she would be here?"

"The queen comes from Faubley by ship, we should see her within the next two days at the earliest." The man lowered his head, "I apologize for any inconvenience this may have for your plans in helping our nations fight against the Waves of Calamity, Shield Hero."

The hero chuckled, causing some sweat to fall from the heads of the elders, "It is not an inconvenience. I am making progress as we speak, councilmen." Victor turned away from the council and made his way back to the entrance of the room, "Victor Von Doom will be staying in a tavern within close proximity until the queen arrives."

The two left the congregation to their own devices and returned to the guardsman that brought them to the building in the first place.

Raphtalia wasn't happy about having to wait that long, but she was happy to see if she could get a little bit of downtime with her master. Perhaps, they could even play a few games while they…

_No, Dr. Doom wouldn't ever play a game with me. _She looked to her master and puffed a cheek in frustration, _He's too serious all the time._

**Ryute Village**

**Dr. Doom**

The day was only just ending, and immediately the growth in the filolial was present. In the morning, the bird could fit in the palm of Victor's hand. Now, however, the creature was about the size of his head. This was somewhat helpful, however, as now it could help carry items for the villagers as both Victor and Raphtalia helped the villagers in the reconstruction.

Victor would ensure that large objects wouldn't fall on unsuspecting victims below and help push large carts to and from different parts of town. A very simple endeavor for a man who could lift things with his mind with ease. He even taught a few of the men and women who were working on reconstruction superior methods of building to help maintain structural integrity in the case of more trauma being applied to the buildings. Unfortunately, the materials being used were still flammable, so they still had to be wary of that. Reconstruction, in almost every regard, was on its way to being done by the time he and Raphtalia decided they would head out the next day.

The three of them, Dr. Doom, Raphtalia and the filolial began their way back to the Saucer Ship where they would end their day and wake for the next.

**Ren Amaki**

The boy sat at a tavern. Alone. Like he wanted it.

He had been sitting there for only an hour now, trying to come up with a new strategy to level up. He was scratching on a piece of parchment with a piece of wood that was burned on one end. He had a candle in front of him to keep the charcoal end of the wood black and to maintain his utensil.

As he thought of strategies, he just kept thinking back to the Shield Hero. His attitude towards the rest of the heroes, condescending as always. Even when he lost a fight, he still had something up his sleeve! It was like they were on a four-way chessboard and he was always five steps ahead of each of the heroes.

It all started the first morning Ren had woken up. His armor reflected into the boy's eyes as he stood on the balcony, a book in hand. That man had been gathering information the second he came to the world!

Ren opened his inventory, dumping the book Doom handed him on day one. It spawned in the air, landing in the lone wolf's hand. He opened a page to the text, which consisted of strange symbols consistent of dashes and dots that laid in patterns above and below and in the middle of the same line. The boy could only groan as he slid the book to the side. There was no way he was going to be able to learn an entire language by himself!

That impossible task was probably the single-most impressive thing Victor Von Doom did in Ren's eyes. It was clear he was able to learn the language, too, otherwise he wouldn't have recognized the second princess. The other heroes didn't even know there was a second princess!

Thinking back on everything, the original accusation and the second confrontation to the king, Dr. Doom claimed that the king and first princess were scheming against him. It didn't seem too farfetched.

_I mean, the king did intentionally leave him out of the introductions and acted very harshly towards him upon initial impressions. _Ren scratched his head before shaking it slightly, _That still doesn't excuse everything else. Taking a slave, overthrowing a nation which was never even in the original game as an option, assaulting the king on multiple occasions. No matter what, he still did those things and they were still unspeakable._

Ren sighed, leaning back and stretching his arms out before taking a sip of his drink. It was watered down ale, which didn't taste too good but was enough to keep him awake and to keep him sober. He looked back at the parchment to consider his options.

He wanted to go and find dungeons, but none of them guaranteed him good loot, nor did they give him much variety in a fight. Otherwise, he could go around town and ask about issues they're having, but most of the time they only offered quests that didn't involve killing things which didn't offer much _EXP, _which is the thing he needed most right now. So, he was sitting at a tavern, waiting for a rumor to stumble his way as he had no other known options and he couldn't get the Shield Villain out of his head, which he also couldn't find an answer for!

With a sigh, the boy decided it might be best to get some rest. He placed the charcoal in his pocket and rolled up the parchment to throw in a fire somewhere as it was full of useless scribbles and amateur doodles. He turned around with the roll in hand overhearing conversations.

As he did, a man burst into the tavern with sweat falling down his face and scuffed clothes.

"Hey, hey, hey! Somebody help! There's a situation a bit of ways from here, at a village over the mountains!"

A few drunkards began laughing as one of them leaned towards the man, spilling his pint on the wooden floor, "What? Did yer sheep get eaten by a wolf er somethin'?"

"A dragon is near a village!"

The drunkards shut up, leaning back towards their table in an attempt not to get involved. Ren, however, began to stand.

"Please, someone! It hasn't attacked yet, but once it does it'll burn the whole village to the ground!" He looked around, not noticing the boy walking towards him as he panicked, "I-I'll pay whatever it-."

"How far away is it?" Ren asked.

The man stepped forward with desperation oozing out of his expression, "A-a couple of days away. Just over the mountains though! I ran all the way here, never stopped, I have a family there. Please!"

Ren placed the sword on his shoulder, smirking and nodding to the man, "Sir, you'll have the help of the Legendary Sword at your back when we get back to that village." Ren placed a hand on the man's shoulder, lowering his gaze to the outside where the day had turned to night already, "I'll slay your dragon."

_Then, I will be one step closer to Dr. Doom's level._

**Itsuki Kawasumi**

He was staked outside of the noble's house, waiting for one of his companions to complete his command to alert the noble to lead him out of his house. The plan was simple, get the noble out where Itsuki could strike him with the bow, take the money he had been taking from the NPCs in the impoverished part of town, turn in the quest and level up on any of the monster enemies he met along the way. Easy.

The hardest part about doing these missions was the waiting. In the original game, it never took this long for a follower to finish a command! But, now it was taking longer, as if it were simulating the real deal. It was a neat little detail for those wanting the most realistic games, but that was never the goal for Itsuki. Especially not with stakes like these. Not with that bastard Doom to contend with.

He still didn't get it, he didn't know how he was so powerful from day one! He had magical abilities and spells that he had never heard of, and that were never present in the game for the Shield Hero. It was almost as if he had been levelled up to the max as soon as he entered, like the God of this game, the creator, gave him a boost. But that couldn't be it either!

There were things that were completely separate from this game, like robots and drones. Assets from other sci-fi games as well as completely original assets.

_That's it! Dr. Doom is a hacker, he has to be! He modded his game and added his stupid characters and his own model into the game. That absolute cheater! _Itsuki growled to himself as he thought it through.

Noise sounded from the house and the Bow Hero reeled back the string and stressed the base as much as he could. A line appeared in front of him, predicting the trajectory of the arrow that would be launched from the weapon. The noble eventually burst through the door, making his way into the forest still donning his sleepwear. He was screaming for help, that intruders were in his home.

All Itsuki could think about was how messed up this whole situation was. _Dr. Doom is a bully through and through, using his power to pick on others. He was picking on the king, he was picking on the other heroes and he was picking on me!_ _I'll kill this troll, without a doubt in my mind._

He let go of the arrow, landing a clean strike at the man's neck. The arrow stayed lodged in his neck for a few seconds until he hit the ground, thus prompting the arrow to burst into light. Itsuki was furious, so much so that he didn't even notice his vision flicker in a slight red across his HUD.

"Victor Von Doom, you're going to face justice. My way!"

_**Alright! Time For Q&A (Note that some of these are from some time ago, sorry for taking so long for the update, again),**_

_**Two common questions/comments I've had; **_

_**Could Doom transfer the Legendary Weapons over to Raphtalia, Filo, etc.?**_

_**A: I'm not so sure if that would be possible. My understanding of it, or at least how I'm representing it in this story, is that the real Legendary Weapons are tied to a person's mind/soul. Hence why when Doom takes over the minds of his Doombots, the shields they all have in his place become the Legendary Shield. This would also mean that his own powers for swapping consciousness with other living things could be hampered. Victor is powerful, but he can't literally bend reality to his will without cosmic items/powers like the Beyonder's powers and/or the Infinity Gauntlet. Even Thanos can beat people like Dr. Doom if Victor doesn't have an infinity stone. I'm trying not to give credit where it isn't due. This world is a completely separate universe than Victor's(Like going from Marvel's Universe to DC's Universe), not just another dimension (Earth-616 to Earth-1610 for example.). The laws of physics, magic, and other things in the Rising of the Shield Hero's universe are vastly different than the Marvel Universe's.**_

_**Mirellia and Dr. Doom shipping?**_

_**A: I might be able to see some flirting here and there, but ultimately I don't think that's going to happen. Namely because this isn't Doom's world and he does not plan on staying. It was established very early on that his goal was to return home and return on his original mission to best Reed Richards once and for all. Vic has damn near an obsession with proving his superiority to Reed and him not being able to accomplish that just isn't Doom. A romance between Mirellia and himself would only be a distraction towards that goal, something he knows he doesn't need and probably doesn't even want.**_

_**Review Responses;**_

_Unwashed heathen__**: I see what you mean, but at the same time it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying to have Doom just begin slaughtering Melromarc immediately after the second chance was thrown out the window. Trust me, Doom's threats will not be empty. I fully intend to use Doom to the best of his abilities to make this into something different. Otherwise, what would be the point of just recreating Rising of the Shield Hero with a new coat of paint?**_

_Danish Zaidi__**: I somewhat agree that he would kill the king, but I don't agree that he would kill the Heroes. Victor is an interesting person, he's not really a villain, he's a hero at heart. He knows that the heroes are simply misguided and need to be taught a lesson. Even the heroes of the Marvel Universe aren't ever killed by Doom, he's not really a killer in the same sense that someone like the Penguin is for example. Even extending towards the King, if he did kill the king, the people of Melromarc and the other countries would simply hear about a hero murdering a king. Not really the smartest thing to do in that situation.**_

_JakeWJElliott2__**: See the above response.**_

_Juan Sotomayor__**: First of all, love the name. Rolls off the tongue. To your actual comment about the summoning circle, I mentioned before how this universe's magical laws, much like physical laws, are being assumed to work differently than Doom's world. Some things work the same, just because they're very similar to the universe of the Rising of the Shield Hero. I'm not really sure about the specifics on Doom's technology/sorcery in the field of multiversal communication/transportation but for this I'm just going with a version of this that says his original methods don't work here.**_

_ :** Less surprised, sure, but compared to the world of espers some of the things in the Marvel Universe are simply wild. I mean, in a one-shot comic where Deadpool kept the Venom symbiote, he met up with the Beyonder at a random bar, got drunk, got his powers, fought a bunch of people on Battleworld or something then got a cosmic weapon that literally erased that one-shot comic from existence. I'm sure if Itsuki heard a story much more tame from the Marvel Universe, he would be plenty surprised and very doubtful.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Dr. Doom**

**Shieldfreeden**

Night turned to day as the Sun rose from under the horizon and the sky began to turn to a warm orange. This orange light shone directly into the room which the armor-clad dictator sat in. The dust made out a rough outline of the convection currents nature naturally made, visible only due to the rays of the Sun. Said rays also allowed the rest of the room to become visible, which had almost anything a guest would need for accommodations.

A neatly made bed sat against the middle of the wall, creating a "U" shaped path throughout the rest of the room. A rug laid under the bed which was uniform and matched the red of the blanket. There were three pillows on each side of the bed and laying on top of one another, each increasing in size the closer to the bed it laid. The velvet blanket was vermilion red, which complimented the brown walls. These same walls also included a cream-colored trim which were sculpted in a way that Doom thought looked like a deviation of a cove trim.

Against the wall opposite to the door of the room was a desk fitted with the essential quill, inkwell filled with ink, and plenty of spare paper. Next to it was a shelf halfway full of books, the same shelf which Doom acquired the book in his hand. This book was as much for leisure as it was for learning what it was the people of this world read for fun. Since his arrival, Victor hadn't the time for much recreational reading, so being able to simply sit down and relax was something he thought would feel refreshing. It wasn't so.

His mind often began to wander towards his theories and others' theories and experimentation in dimensional transportation. The juvenile mystical arts which Stephen Strange was so fond of or the Microverse were the two that came to mind. He scoffed at the first idea, knowing that if Victor's knowledge of the mystical arts couldn't get him out of the world, Dr. Strange would be in an even greater disposition. As for the latter, so little was known about the Microverse that the dictator questioned if it could even help in this scenario and Victor didn't want to waste his time getting through the Time Travelers to find out.

He shut his book with a sigh, slowly rising from his seat and placing the book back where he had found it.

_It matters not, I suppose. _Victor reasoned mentally, _If what the king said was true, that in defeating the Waves of Calamity I may return home and defeat Reed Richards, my time here might not be a total waste._

He marched towards the entrance of the room, swinging the door open and meeting the guard that escorted him around town yesterday. The man jumped, pulling his hand which was gestured to knock on the door. He took a step back and bowed his head with his right arm strapped over his chest.

"When you are ready, my lord, the Queen of Melromarc has arrived and the council will be preparing for their meeting shortly. Do you wish for me to fetch your companion?"

"There will be no need." The man nodded towards the hall, which was cause for the man to turn in the same direction. Through a door on the other side of the hall, Raphtalia stepped out, already prepared to leave. Victor returned to the escort, "Lead the way, guardsman."

The soldier stood straight with a quick, "Yes, my lord." He followed his order and soon the two were on their way towards the government building.

It didn't take long for them to arrive. By the time they set foot on the property the orange of the Sun had turned to yellow and the sky was now mostly a yellow turning to a light blue the closer the Sun reached the apex of the sky. Carriages were being pulled to the front of the building where the noble representatives made their way inside the building from the steps. One of the assistants of the council took notice of Doom and his party before making his approach towards the building on his own. The escort excused himself and both Dr. Doom and Raphtalia made their own way towards the steps.

"Ah, the lord of Siltvelt." A woman's voice emerged from behind as the duo began making their way towards the government building. As they turned, the eyes of Doom met the eyes of the queen of Melromarc, Mirellia Q. Melromarc. She met him with a gentle smile and bowed in a curtsy, picking up her purple dress and rising slowly after. "I'm very happy to make your acquaintance."

Dr. Doom never let his scowl leave his face, though it was only visible through his eyes. "If you're attempting to present yourself as an ally to Doom, cease your ill-attempt of treachery. Your daughter and husband already revealed their true intentions."

"I understand your hesitation to trust me, truly. I want to express my humblest apologies for the treachery my family has treated you to." The woman placed her hands in front of herself, entangling her fingers in a plea. "If you will hear me, I wish to express myself firsthand as the true ruler of Melromarc."

"Are you ordering Victor Von Doom like a servant?"

"No, my lord. These are my wishes alone; you may do as you wish." She lowered her head, closing her eyes, "I want to make things right between our nations and between our relations with the Shield Hero."

The dictator paused for a moment before turning to the queen fully, marching down the steps. He stopped as he came side-by-side with her. "The council will wait, and I will grant you permission to speak to me in private, Mirellia Melromarc." He turned to her again, meeting her eyes with his own, "For your own sake, you had better not be wasting my precious time."

**Raphtalia**

**Ryute Village**

Raphtalia and Dr. Doom made their way towards the village once more with their filolial. The biggest surprise to the tanuki girl was the fact the bird stood at the same height as her master. The growth that was possible in two days' time was incredible! Though something was egging the back of her head.

Perceptive as ever, Victor noticed. "My dear, if you have something to say then do so." He demanded as they reached the stables. He picked up a brush which laid on a stool inside the stable to tend to her feathers so they were nice and clean.

"I was just wondering what you would be naming her."

He didn't answer for a second, focusing on making sure her feathers were perfectly clean. He eventually turned to the bird, looking at her in the eyes. "She is a smart one, Raphtalia. One such as this claims her own name."

"She might be a smart creature, but I don't think she can exactly communicate what she wants her name to be."

He glared back at the demi-human, his grown evident through his mask. "You know Doom does not tolerate mockery, girl! It would be best for you to mind your tongue." The bird behind him joined him in glaring at her, as if to repeat his words back at her. This only added to her frustration. Doom turned back to the filolial, "Doom understood what he said, and I meant it. She _will _choose her own name."

Raphtalia wanted to retaliate but instead she held her tongue by her master's request. "Yes, Dr. Doom." She replied, though with reluctancy.

Sometimes, Raphtalia wished she could read his mind. Not because she believed he was wrong but because he always seemed to know something everyone else didn't. When it was someone else being targeted, she had to admit it was amusing. But now, saying a filolial could communicate their name was just ridiculous! So why he insisted on the bird being able to was beyond her.

With very rare exceptions to the norm, however, he was able to prove how correct he was. So, to Raphtalia, it didn't make so much of a difference whether he was transparent with her. Especially when he has had the people's best interests in mind thus far. Even with the tanuki girl herself, he seemed to have her best interests in mind. That didn't stop her from being annoyed at the way she had to pester him to get even just the first word of the page he was on.

Those thoughts were put on pause when she caught the sound of a few shouts outside. They began to rise in volume before one of the town's children, a boy with orange hair and a small bandage on his cheek, stopped at the stable doors.

"Lord Doom! Come quickly!"

Raphtalia turned to her master, who already began marching towards the boy. She, the filolial, and the boy followed behind the Shield Hero towards the front gates of the town. As they got close, the tanuki girl could only sigh in contempt as she saw who it was.

The Hero of the Lance, Motoyasu, sat atop a small dragon next to Malty Melromarc who was on her own dragon. Behind them were a group of guards who had their own dragons. Each of the steeds were covered in somewhat crude armor to what was to her and Doom's standards of protection.

As they approached, some of the villagers at the back of the crowd took notice of Victor and stepped aside. The rest of the crowd followed suit, giving him a clear path between him and the guardsmen. Before he reached the group, he turned to the boy who was still gripping his cape, picking him up and gently handing him over to his mother. Victor turned back to Motoyasu, picking up his own cape and raising his chin.

"You've got some nerve being in Melromarc territory, Doom. If that even is you, that is." Motoyasu pointed to the armored man with the blade of his spear, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Victor didn't waiver, "I think that is my place to ask you, Hero of the Lance. What are you doing to cause your own people to be distraught so?"

"If you must know," the princess replied, opening a scroll, "It has been decreed that this village have a toll placed upon any who enter or leave this village."

"A toll!" An elderly woman exclaimed, stepping forward with a cane to keep her balance, "The merchants who enter and leave this village are our own. As we are now, if this tax is placed we will only lose money!"

"You dare question the laws of the castle?" Malty recoiled, placing her hand on her hilt.

"Questioning and following are the same here. We question and you kill us as punishment, we follow and we kill ourselves over time due to economic collapse!" The elder explained, slamming the cane against the dirt ground. "This is not reasonable!"

The princess drew her sword and reeled it back with a frown drawn on her face, "I should strike you where you stand, old hag!" Dr. Doom stepped in front of the old woman, arms crossing in front of him and eyes glued to the Princess'. She pushed forward anyways, going straight for the armored man's throat. She was stopped, however, by Raphtalia's blade, both swords interlocking and stopping at each other's hilts. The princess' scowl creased further, "Get out of my way you damned demi-human!"

"Lay a finger on my lord and I'll show you how damned a demi-human can be." Raphtalia growled, her composure being tested by the princess.

Malty was about to respond, but Motoyasu placed his lance on top of theirs, getting their attention. "Let's not get worked up, girls. There's no need to be mean just because of what people are born as."

If Raphtalia was hearing right, it seemed like the Spear Hero just defended her as a demi-human! She, for one, was almost relieved to hear that even if she knew it was for weird reasons.

The Princess wasn't so relieved. "Motoyasu, why are you defending her?"

"What's gotten into you, Malty?" He asked with an eyebrow raised, "I just think a fight breaking out right now isn't the best option, it definitely shouldn't be the first pick this time. So, can we put our weapons away for a sec?"

It was reluctant on both parties, but both women pulled their weapons back. Raphtalia sidestepped to her master's side, though her guard was up just in case either of them tried anything again. The Spear Hero moved forward on his steed, coming face to face with Dr. Doom.

"Look, Victor. This whole process is complicated, and I know at the moment it seems like we're hurting the people here. But this is something the King signed off on and I believe he has the best interests of his people at heart. You could take a page out of that book some time." Motoyasu forced a smile, "This is Melromarc business, so I'm just saying to stay out of this so we don't have any more issues than we already have with each other. Unless, of course, you plan on creating an altercation between our nations and our allies."

Raphtalia stepped back as Motoyasu finished his reply. Specifically, she began backing up when the younger man commanded something of her master. The one thing she learned in the time she's traveled with him was that you do NOT order Victor Von Doom to do anything! Then to threaten him after the order is basically a death sentence in his book. As she stepped back, the crowd of the village also stepped away from the cloaked man. The filolial was even following suit with Raphtalia, placing herself behind the tanuki girl and out of direct sight from the ruler of Siltvelt.

"You order Doom around, do you?" The armored man began, placing his hands behind his back, "Let's settle this with a more democratic method this time…" Victor turned around, facing the people of Ryute village. "As I understand it, the Melromarc guards were the ones to attack your homes and lives, in turn producing more damage than what even the other-worldly invaders would have done under my watch. They incinerate your village, and then they mandate you to hand them all your finances! Should you, who have suffered such trauma, such catastrophe, remain submissive towards outright tyranny who would only offer you more anguish when what you all needed was a helping hand, no, simply time to get back on your own two feet?"

"I offer an alternative prospect for you all." Doom announced, gesturing to them with open arms, "Dr. Victor Von Doom asked this of you as Siltvelt, NOT Melromarc, supplied relief during the Wave of Calamity and helped you to rebuild and improve what was lost; the only thing I asked in return was for you to exalt my name! Now, Doom offers his aid again. Your protections and needs will be met with absolute certainty as I promised the rest of Siltvelt's citizens, with only one request for you in return." The crowd was close again, listening intently to the armored man, the ruler of Siltvelt, to heed his wishes, "You will serve me with absolute dominion under the banner of Doctor Victor Von Doom!"

The armored man turned back to the Spear Hero and the Princess, the latter of whom was scowling down at him with a smile. "A nice little speech, but the people of Melromarc know what's best for-."

"Doom!"

Raphtalia turned back, meeting the small, higher pitched voice that interrupted Malty. It was the boy that fetched them earlier with a fist raised in the air above his mother's head. He had a smile on his face looking square at the woman's eyes.

"Doom! Doom! Doom!" He continued chanting, gaining support from others in the crowd. They kept chanting, the number of fists rising in the air increasing with each chant! By the time every villager's fist was in the air, the chants volume had increased and combined into a higher caliber than one person could achieve. All of it was directed at the Melromarc soldiers.

The guards' flustering shadowed the reactions of the Princess and the Spear Hero. Malty tried to retaliate against the noise with her own voice, but it was in vain as her voice failed to be heard to even Raphtalia despite her being right in front of her as she stood proudly beside her master.

Dr. Doom raised his fist in the air, the chanting stopping instantaneously.

"It seems, Princess Melromarc, the people have spoken." Victor spoke, representing their voices.

She began laughing, shaking her head, "You think that means anything? They're still in our nation's borders, you idiot! That means they are Melromarc's regardless of what they say."

Victor raised a hand, snapping his fingers. Raphtalia looked up to the sky, catching the green flashes of drones and Doombots being spawned from Siltvelt's army and into the village. The robots marched forward, some with cannons as their left hands and the vague resemblance to Doom. Others looked closer to the original man, though the cloak and shield he had on his main robots were nowhere to be seen. The small militia quickly surrounded the Spear Hero and Princess' posse with the only opening for them being the exit of the village. Raphtalia reclaimed the grip of her sword to point it at the Princess, a smirk finding its way on her face, "I believe my entourage disagrees with that assessment. Ryute Village belongs to Siltvelt now, as per the request of her people."

Malty's steed stepped back a little as she stood in awe of the newly spawned warriors before turning her attention back to the Shield Hero. "Do you even realize what you're saying? Invading territory and seizing land is treason. You will create war throughout the continent!"

"Then let there be war." Doom began. From his eyes and the fingertips of his gauntlets, green energy in the form of mist began seething out and rising into the atmosphere. He pointed at the posse with his open hand, lightning sparking between his fingers and licking the metal of each appendage, "You will come to know why Doom is fated to reign supreme in this world!"

**Dr. Doom**

**Shieldfreeden**

The two leaders finally sat down at the table, being granted full privacy from the owners of the restaurant. The establishment was grand, with fine sculptures resembling that of the Cardinal Heroes of the past placed occasionally around the walls. Placed on the walls were animal heads of the world, some which resembled animals of Victor's world and others that only existed in this world. Between some of the game was paintings of wars and victorious scenes which all combined the theme of the establishment. The atmosphere was very reminiscent of the Asgardian's Valhalla as described by Loki from time to time when the topic arrived between the two. A feast in which the targeted audience would be proud warriors!

The tables of which were spaced out graciously enough to allow private conversations to prosper. However, for discussions as dire as this, the two leaders requested that the entire restaurant be emptied and only a wine bottle to be placed on their table. The staff were to have no further interactions with the guests and would wait until they both left to collect their leftovers and reopen for the typical workday. Dr. Doom was skeptical of this, but the Queen reassured him with a smile.

"I understand your doubt, my lord. However, the men and women of Shieldfreeden are accustomed to private conversations such as this. You have nothing to fear of the staff." She began to pour Dr. Doom's glass before pouring her own wine. Once she placed the bottle down, she took a respectable drink out of her own bottle and returned to Victor, "Combine that with your companion guarding the front door, the only better privacy would be within church confessionals."

The leader of Siltvelt took hold of his own glass of wine for a sip, placing it down immediately after. "I assume your urgency to speak with me revolves around your family's obsession with creating a blight against my name."

She nodded, her smile fading, "As is the reason you're in Shieldfreeden, I presume."

"Indeed. May I call you by name?" The woman nodded and so Victor continued, "Mirellia, I gave your husband and your first child two chances of introspection and they spat in my face both times. My patience is limited, and I have granted them far more than their fair share of it."

"I understand the only reason they were allowed one of those chances was because of my second daughter, the one I've chosen for the crown."

Doom nodded, "Melty Melromarc, wasn't it? She requested her father be spared and so I had her promise to keep him and her sister in line. In the end, that promise bared no fruit."

Mirellia's eyes widened, she leaned forward and took hold of Victor's hands, "My lord, I beg of you not to hold Melty responsible for them. You may punish me if you must, but I plead you to show mercy towards Melty!"

Victor calmly placed a hand on hers, "I will not place a hand on your second daughter, rest assured."

The queen sighed in relief as she returned to her own seat and tried to regain her composure with a napkin to wipe her brow.

He replied to her plea, "You care greatly for your second of kin but not the first."

"Indeed." Her shoulders slumped with a nod of her head. "Melty is… She has always been more sensible than both her sister and my husband. She's also, as it would happen, my favorite. That's one of the things Aultcray and I agree on. Malty on the other hand has had her set of issues."

"Still, you would not even attempt to save the rest of your family from the punishments I might deal?"

"It simply is not my place, Lord Doom." She turned her head towards the front of the restaurant, peering out the window as the people went about their day. "Just like you, the rest of the nations are demanding reparations for their misdeeds. As I have been informed of your knowledge of this predicament, there was a treaty formed between all the nations on this continent which outlined the order in which the Cardinal Heroes would be summoned. My fool of a husband with the association of my daughter broke that treaty and planned to use that as political artillery of sorts." She turned back to the armored man, her eyes firm in what she said, "I believe they will regain their composure with the knowledge that the Shield Hero dealt what punishment he felt appropriate of the two as well as some compensation for the difficulties he had to face during the time in which he was forced to carry those burdens."

"Ryute Village."

"Excuse me, my lord?"

"A small village which was under my protection during this world's second Wave of Calamity." Victor brought out a small projection disk, placing it on the table between the two of them. It burst to life, allowing the hologram of a screen to share what was visible through the lens of a drone present at the site. The construction drones were already beginning new plans to better the defenses and adding electricity to the homes of the people. The queen simply stared in awe of it. "There was a complication between your daughter, the Spear Hero, and the people there when a tax had been placed on them shortly after the invasion. Promptly, one of my machines had convinced the humble citizens to relinquish their citizenship to me."

"Your machines convinced my people? It's as if you mean to say your creations have sentience." She shook her head, "Never mind that. If my people accepted your terms of their own free will, I have no problem issuing the deed to Ryute Village's property to Siltvelt, my lord. Besides, from the sounds of it they might not accept Melromarc as their kingdom so soon after such an incident." The last word was expressed like a sigh which reeked of disappointment. "You will have your property and I will overlook all activity already evidently underway."

The Latverian nodded to acknowledge his request being met. He took hold of his wine again and consumed a longer draught before taking his projection disk from the table and disabling it before placing it back in its place. The queen refilled his glass to where it was at the beginning of their conversation. She smiled towards him, taking hold of her wine and raising it to mouth level.

"Overall, I have been nothing but impressed with you, my lord. I never predicted someone of your stature would be any of the Cardinal Heroes, and the Hero of the Shield, no less." She took a sip of her wine before returning to the conversation, "I am curious of how you convinced the previous lord of Siltvelt to turn over his power to you. The young man isn't known for being the most reasonable of rulers."

Victor's glare aimed at Mirellia, "I sought to convince him to aid me, to simply concede governance of his army to me. Predictably, he refused my demands and cast his soldiers upon me."

Mirellia calmly closed her eyes, "Did you kill him then?"

"Not before I put him to work in the Siltvelt mines." Victor answered, swirling his wine in a circle. "Is that something which would disturb you?"

She shook her head, "What's done is done, and so long as the other nations recognize the improvement of Siltvelt they more than likely will overlook it. Faubley being a potential exception."

This earned a chuckle from the man. The queen opened her eyes, meeting his glare. "Faubley amounts to naught more than a roach beneath my boot. If they wish to contest Doom, it shall be the repulsive king's mortality he wagers. His land will be mine by forfeit."

"You certainly are headstrong, lord Doom." The woman raised an eyebrow before leaning forward and placing her head on her hands. "Though you may consider this a pester, I almost think you wish to conquer all the nations for yourself. Do you genuinely believe you have the ability to take over and rule the whole continent on your own?"

Victor stared down the woman, placing his wine down at the table. "I will not halt at this continent, Mirellia. If necessity demands, I will take control over this whole world and beyond in order to achieve my goals!"

The queen sat in what would have looked calm if it weren't for the force she used to grip her wine glass. It was the first time Victor felt someone took his declarations seriously. She understood her situation clearly, that if he decided it was necessary, he had the motivation and the abilities to take control over every single one of the seven kingdoms!

"If I might ask, why is it you haven't already started towards that goal?"

"My dear Queen of Melromarc, have you forgotten already?" The woman frowned for a second before her eyes opened wide again to the realization, "You have accepted to gift me Ryute Village. Thus, I have already began my expansion!"

"You have bested me it seems, Lord Doom." The Queen smiled with a small giggle. She nodded, placing her hands on her lap, "I know we have a few things to settle still, but I do genuinely hope Siltvelt and Melromarc's relationship can be reconciled. I would much rather have a resourceful ruler such as yourself as an ally rather than an enemy."

"Indeed," the Latverian replied with a nod, "To have a composed woman such as yourself as an ally shall make Siltvelt and Melromarc an undisputed force in this world."

Victor smiled behind his mask as he lifted his glass, tilting towards Mirellia, "To celebrate our hopes to better the lives of our people and the hopes of strengthening the bonds between our nations, a toast!"

The queen took hold of her glass, finally allowing her eyes to show relief after the stress. She raised her glass, "I hope this means we can add the avoidance of war between our nations, as well."

The armored man nodded before their glasses tapped each other, "So long as more complications do not arise, war has been suspended. Although, your other champions will need to be dealt with before we can truly consider each other allies."

Mirellia's smile returned, "Not a worry, when I return to Melromarc I will be sure to set the Cardinal Heroes straight, Victor. I hope they can avoid your machines long enough to make the transition easier for when I return to Melromarc."

Both leaders finally took the drink to finalize their toasts.

**Raphtalia**

**Ryute Village**

The Sun was just beginning to set now. No more guards returned from Melromarc's castle since the Spear Hero and the Princess left the village with their posse. By now, the defenses were to the point where if they had decided to attack the village or the surrounding forests, they would be fired upon and either killed or captured by the drones. Beyond that, the Doombots were set on patrols with weaponry which turned even the toughest of armor to nothing but dust and molten metal. Thus, the people would be safe and could sleep knowing that it would take an actual army to make it through their defenses.

Even then, with Dr. Doom and Raphtalia still within the perimeter of Ryute Village, the opposition would be dealt with swiftly!

Currently, the people of the village were busy placing wood in stacks in the center of town to make an altar. As a celebration of their liberation from Melromarc and them becoming subjects of Siltvelt, they asked her master if they could put on an event. He allowed it without hesitation, earning a few gleeful shrieks from the children. The filolial joined the children with a peep of her own, following the kids as they ran to play and spread the news.

_Where is the filolial anyways? _Raphtalia looked through the crowd for the children. Oddly, they didn't seem to be in the center of town. She turned her head around, trying to catch a glimpse of one of the boys trying to hit each other with sticks or the girls yelling and chasing after the boys. However, there wasn't much of a sign of them anywhere. Panic began to set in on the demi-human.

She had to take a deep breath to calm herself down. Raphtalia rose from her tree stump seat and began to explore the village to look for the children.

_They're just hiding somewhere to avoid helping in making the altar, that's it!_

This was the working hypothesis, but the more she looked between buildings and inside the restored structures, the hypothesis becoming a theory seemed more and more difficult to manage. Eventually, she had searched the whole village for the children, including the crop fields. They weren't in town.

_Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening. What happened to all the drones watching the perimeter?! What am I going to tell their parents?! What am I going to tell Dr. Doom-? _

The Saucer Ship came to mind immediately! She hadn't checked it, yet! In a mad dash with sweat forming on her forehead, she made her way towards their airship. Unfortunately, the ship was landed on top of a hill, which simply winded her as she reached them top when it was combined with her scrambling to find the kids in town.

When she reached the top, she had to take a second to catch her breath. Before she could look up, a familiar voice gave her immediate relief.

"Hey, it's big sister, Raphtalia!" The boy with the orange hair and the bandage grinned next to all the other children. "Why are you all sweaty? Were you training or something?"

She shook her head with a smile, just barely regaining her composure. "No, I was just looking for Lord Doom's filolial. Do you kids know where she is?"

One of the girls, one with black hair and bright blue eyes, perked up, "You mean Filo?"

"Filo?"

"Yes, Filo." Dr. Doom marched out of the Saucer Ship down the steps. In his right arm was a new child, one that she didn't recognize from the village's children. She had long blonde hair and big and bright blue eyes which complimented her pale skin which was covered by Dr. Doom's cape and hood. Her master continued, "This girl is the filolial we purchased just days ago."

Raphtalia almost thought her master was joking. Unfortunately, the tone of his voice made it clear he wasn't. More importantly, however, "You named her Filo?" She couldn't maintain her disbelief.

This time, however, the scowl came from the village children. The boy with the orange hair being the representative, "Hey, no fair! We came up with the name!"

That made sense to Raphtalia that the kids would name her something so simple. However, what didn't make sense was, "And you decided to go with that name, Dr. Doom?"

The blonde replied in his stead, "I chose it! Doesn't it sound fun?" She explained, grinning ear to ear.

Raphtalia looked to Victor, dumb stricken. He simply chuckled, "I did say she would claim her own name, did I not?"

For once, she really wished he would break his own words.

_**I just want to say thank you for all the support you guys have given for this series. Even with unreasonably large gaps between chapters being published, I still get great reviews and a surprisingly large amount of people reading. For this story specifically, I kind of lost some steam for it some time ago because I was trying to think about how to transition this and some of my other stories into something of their own, because I realized that I'm actually kinda bad at doing that. I want to make sure my stories are as awesome as they can be and that means I need to figure out what plot points are absolutely necessary and which plots points are malleable or even able to be discarded. I won't bore you with the details but I do want to reply and answer reviews, so thanks for reading my stories and hopefully I can do better in the future!**_

_**Btw what I'm seeing often from reviews has born some consensus: Itsuki fucking sucks lol**_

_**L: I'm not gonna lie, when I was writing this I didn't even realize that some of the things you suggested were basically exactly what I had decided to do. Great minds think alike, I suppose.**_

_**Doom King of Latveria: Yeah, sorry for getting your hopes up about returning to the story and then immediately falling off the face of the Earth again. I've tried thinking about if I should have other Marvel characters in this, and I know a few ways I could do it, but I don't think I'm too invested in that idea as it , I'll keep it in consideration. As for his age, I think that would be about where I'd place him. Bottom line is that he is definitely older than the Cardinal Heroes and closer to the age of Aultcray and Mirellia. Personally, I don't think it's too unreasonable to consider Victor, after ruling Latveria for years and being one of the smartest humans on Earth, would be capable of getting a small army of robots to help him exponentially increase the rate he can create more robots for both construction and destruction. With the reasoning for teleporting the robots, he can teleport people where he wants so why couldn't he do it to tech? Overall, I hope you liked this chapter.**_

_**GREAT CELESTIAL-DRAGON: It is a bit weird, I will admit, how the heroes all think the world is just a game. I sum that up to them being dumb kids and not having too much common sense nor any experience with dimension hopping like Victor does. Without something to give them a wake up call, their delusions run rampant.**_

_**GrapeFanta: It's a fanfiction made for fun, so as long as it's comprehensive and you're enjoying it, that's a win!**_

_**Jajo Camello: I think a few people would disagree with you on grammatical errors, but I think they're sparse enough to get by. I just hate it when I catch something wrong in the middle of something that's supposed to be hyped as hell. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I can't lie when I say your opinion on shipping gave me a decent idea, so thanks!**_

_**Tsunashi777: Unfortunately, I haven't read the light novel and I really feel I should because it seems like there's a lot more perspective and world building with it. Not sure if it would be helpful or harmful for creativity but fun either way.**_

_**Toby860: The same thing that happens when he leaves Latveria, Doombots with his personality will resume control and everything continues without Doom himself. The dude thinks of it all.**_

_**myafroatemydog: Ew, I don't think so. I didn't even think it worked that well in the anime or whatnot because she was mentally still like a child.**_

_**Rufus T. Serenity: We stan Dr. Doom in this house.**_

_**Anyways, that's really all I've got for the reviews I felt I needed to respond to, and I hope I'll stay on task enough to bring the next chapter to you within a reasonable time frame. I also plan on updating the cover of this story, but I'm still sketching it out on my computer so I hope it will be up before I get the next chapter up.**_


End file.
